Spending the day with Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg entered the room like a breeze. In the next 30 seconds, his boyish charm had spread into the air like happiness molecules, disarming everyone present.

Pleasantries exchanged, we got to the moot questions. Interestingly, Facebook is a company where perception is split down the middle, especially in India, on its intent and mission. So, the question was simple: Why do some people perceive Facebook as trying to become the God of all things?

In response Zuckerberg said: "It is interesting how people like to see us as this big company. But that is not how we see ourselves. In fact, culturally that is not the mindset we come from. In our perspective, we are very small compared to the impact that we hope to have on the world, in terms of people connect."

According to Zuckerberg, the unconventional spaces and needs which Facebook is dabbling in, is more due to the existing vacuum in the field. Once again, there are no serious minded players stepping forward to take leadership where the need is. "There are a whole lot of other folks out there, whether it is technology companies, organisations, mobile players, who could also be playing a big role and some do. But the only reason we are pushing our limits on this is, we still seem to be care more."

Facebook has recently pulled all the plugs to drive aggressive innovation across technology, new revenue models and lighter apps that need lesser bandwidth to load on weaker connections to connect the underserviced, including internet.org. Is it trying to become parallel internet with initiatives like internet.org? Does the company have scant respect for net neutrality?

Zuckerberg disagrees: "Not in the least. We want to spread the internet and not become a parallel one - for this we are working on multiple fronts. We are working on new technologies - the unmanned solar powered aircraft that can fly for months and beam down connectivity. Then there are the satellites, laser communication systems to beam down internet at very high bandwidths, new business models like Free Basic rolled out in 20 countries."

Is the Indian experience frustrating his intent? There is a firm answer on that. "India will have to get the debate right. What we are doing will have to be seen as a very wide commitment to do all other things necessary to give that push to get internet to the next billion in India."

(In Association with Mail Today)