102.

9- The Thought

FranzenZuckerberg
Transcript
March 23, 2011

Haylee Franklin

HW- Heidi Westwick, Radio Host

JF- Jonathan Franzen, Author
MZ- Mark Zuckerberg, Computer Programmer
HW: Good morning, California, and welcome to 102.9, THE THOUGHT. I am
Heidi Westwick and today we have two very special guests. I am here
with Jonathan Franzen, award winning author of The Corrections and
How to Be Alone. Mr. Franzen, say hello to our listeners.
JF:

Hello, everyone.

HW: Great. I also have in the studio with me the creator of certain website. I
think you guys may have heard of it. Facebook? You know the one?
MZ:

(Laughs.)

HW: Everyone welcome computer programmer and Facebook creator Mark

Zuckerberg to the show!
MZ:

Thank you, Heidi. Its nice to be here this morning.

HW: Okay, so we have invited the two of you gentlemen to our studio to
discuss a certain Twitter conversation that has sparked rumors of a
feud between you both.
JF:

Right. Well, I wouldnt call it a conversation. I sent a simple tweet,

which Mr. Zuckerberg felt the need to reply to. That was the end of it.

HW: So, the not-conversation began when you, Jonathan, tweeted

Selling yourself has worked its way ever more deeply into the minute
by minute fabric of daily life (Adams). Thanks, Zuckerberg.
JF:

Guilty.

HW: In reply, Mark, you tweeted Im willing to guess that Oprah hasnt
accepted your friend request yet.
MZ:

I did, Heidi. I thought we were joking.

JF:

I did not appreciate that joke being shared to his thousands of Twitter
followers. I felt it was a personal attack.

MZ:

And using my own name isnt personal? Facebook isnt personal to me?

HW: Right, gentlemen

JF:

Heres what Im thinking: There is something undeniably totalitarian

about the combination of mass media, Web and social media, in that
you can no longer choose not to be in a relationship with it. A lot
comes with that. What formerly might have been an expressive act has
now changed fundamentally. If I have an opinion, great! Here is this
free medium. I can just put it out there with no barriers between myself
and my audience. I can just publish (Gardels). Zuckerberg, here, has
helped create that.

MZ:

Thank you.

HW: Did you mean that as a compliment, Jonathan? Just to be clear.

JF:

I guess it could be taken both ways. On the surface, and in terms of

technology, what Mark has created is phenomenal.

MZ:

Again, thank you for the kind words, Jonathan.

JF:

Right. However, I too believe that social media has caused quite a
panic in terms of Americans and their privacy. They want to share their
every detail and be praised for their every moment but this also scares
them

MZ:

College kids are online because their friends are online (The Social
Network). They are looking for networking and relationships. When I
tweeted that at Mr. Franzen, I was drunk and angry and stupid (The
Social Network) and Tweeting. But I feel it has become personal
because Jonathan has spoken out against my website and the internet
in general so many times.

HW: Jonathan? Is it personal?

JF:

No, to me it is not. Writing and sharing my opinions is what I do. I

believe in boundaries and finding time to be alone and Mr. Zuckerberg
and I are obviously on other sides of the spectrum here.

HW: Mark, I want to ask you about something Rolling Stone magazine wrote
about you. I quote: Mark Zuckerberg. made billions by helping
technology win the battle against actual human contact. It's also
about the nation of narcissists we've become, reshaping who we are on
Facebook in the hope of being friended by other users who may or may
not be lying their asses off (Travers). What do you think about that?
MZ:

Number one, Im not sure if I am the only narcissist being interviewed

here today.

JF:

Again, with the personal attacks.

MZ:

Number two, if my website does help people feel validated in who they
are, cool.

HW: Mr. Zuckerberg, I feel as if you dont want to be here today. Do we have
your attention?
MZ:

Look, I dont enjoy talking about this supposed feud between Franzen
and I. Feud is an outlandish word to use to describe to men from two
different worlds. You have part of my attention you have the
minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of
Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in
this room. are intellectually or creatively capable of doing. Did I
adequately answer your condescending question (TSN)?

HW: I believe so. Mr. Franzen, do you have anything you would like to say?
JF:

I agree that there is no feud between the two of us. However, I do not
wish to undermine the intelligence of this gentleman as he has so
kindly just done to mine. Yes, we are from separate worlds but respect
is still respect.

HW: An article in the New York Times has said that Facebook, and I quote,
reduces life to a database (Dargis). What do you think about that,
Mark?
MZ:

Thinking in terms of databases and algorithms has worked out

fantastically for me, so I see no issue in the worlds technological shift.

HW: Mr. Franzen?

JF:

Well, Heidi, there are some who believe that technology has created
no problems that technology cant fix (Franzen 167). I am willing to
guess that Mr. Zuckerberg is one of those people. I, on the other hand,
believe in personal connection that is larger and closer than the
smartphones in our hands. All around me, attractive young people are
hunched over their [iPhones] and their [Androids] with preoccupied
expressions, as if probing a sore tooth, or adjusting a hearing aid, or
squeezing a pulled muscle; personal technology has begun to look like
a personal handicap (Franzen 53). No one is present in the real world
anymore. It is a shame

HW: Well, gentlemen, it appears we have run out of time. We would love to
have you back in our studio to finish this conversation.
MZ:

[Snorts.]

HW: Until next time, California. I am Heidi Westwick and this has been
102.9- THE THOUGHT.

Works Cited
Adams, Tim. But Will Oprah Love It? Rev. of How to Be Alone, by Jonathan
Franzen. The Guardian 09 Sep. 2002. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
Dargis, Manolha. Millions of Friends, but Not Very Popular. Rev. of The Social
Network. New York Times 23 Sep. 2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
Gardels, Nathan. How to Be Alone in our Techno-Consumer Culture:
A Conversation with Jonathan Franzen. World Post 30 Jan. 2014. Web.
24 Feb. 2015.
Franzen, Jonathan. How to Be Alone: Essays. New York: Picador, 2002.
The Social Network. Dir. David Fincher. Perfs. Jessie Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield,
Justin Timberlake. Columbia, 2010. Amazon Instant Video. 24 Feb. 2015.
Travers, Peter. Rev. of The Social Network. Rolling Stone 14 Oct. 2010. Web.
24 Feb. 2015.