Zuckerberg Is Not Oprah

"My challenge for 2015 is to read a new book every other week - with an emphasis on learning about different cultures, beliefs, histories and technologies.“ That′s what Mark Zuckerberg posted on his Facebook site on January 2, 2015.

Back then – and still today – I think that Zuck′s idea is a beautiful one. Reading regularly a stimulating book and using his popularity to get people motivated to read and discuss about books is brilliant! It′s exactly what we need in a world where many people have forgotten about the beauty of words, the power of their own thoughts, and the magic of eloquence. Consequently all of us – and not only the publishing industry - need to give a big hand to everyone who tries to make reading more popular. Especially in times when books compete with apps, online games, music streaming, movie subscription services, etc.

What happened after his announcement?

Well, what a surprise! When someone like Zuck invites his 31 million plus followers in the age of the omnipresent digitalization, immediately the Internet reacts frenetically. Indeed, within a few days after his post became public a quarter of a million people liked his newly created page "A Year of Books.“ His first book pick “The End of Power” by Moises Naim magically transformed overnight from a rather unknown book into a bestseller. Many journalists predicted that his "book club“ – which he had never explicitly founded or announced as such – would become a big market shaper in the future of books. Other "experts“ even dubbed him "the new Oprah.“

What else has happened?

Unfortunately not a lot. When Zuck together with Moises Naim finally hosted a Facebook Q&A session to discuss the book a couple of days ago only a few hundred people showed up. Having read their questions and comments – several requested a pirated PDF of the book and others posted ads to promote their businesses – I dare to say that even not half of them read the book. Which is a pitty, since it′s a thought-provoking book that explores how the world is shifting to give individual people more power that was traditionally only held by large organizations and institutions.

So, what has not (yet) happened?

It seems that there′s no "literary connection“ (yet) between Zuck and his army of followers. Whilst Zuck seemed happy with the Q&A and went on to post "Btw, thanks for doing this Q&A. I really enjoyed reading your book. It was a great way to start off my year!“, the Q&A session only shows 1,484 likes, 167 comments, and a mere 101 shares. What went wrong?

First of all, Zuckerberg is Zuckerberg and not Oprah. And that′s good. He′s a gifted programmer, addicted to data and numbers, an astute tech entrepreneur who created a great company. Oprah – the soul lady – is an entertainment genius who has built over many years a media empire which is founded on her personal brand. Although both are in the "people business,“ the Oprah approach is the one most of us can relate with far easier and quicker. And reading a book is still a personal and often emotional thing to do. Oprah is accepted as a tastemaker, Zuck as a businessmaker.

In addition, in today′s hyper-competitive and noisy world you need to shout loudly to promote your products and services. Even if your name is Mark Zuckerberg and especially when you do something which you′re not well known for. It′s crucial you structure your outreach: Promoting content the right way means targeting multiple sites, adequate blogs, forums as well as exchanging with various key influencers and opinion leaders to keep your story going and building up. Personally, I only heard about the Q&A when it was already over. What about you?

Also, and that′s very crucial, there′s a technical challenge to overcome with the Facebook site. Based on its filtering and ranking algorithms comments, questions, and answers are neither ordered chronologically nor ranked by community votes (as e.g. on Reddit). That makes it difficult to follow and to get involved.

Finally, the book – although as previously mentioned a stimulating read which is well-reviewed, is challenging and time-consuming. I′m not reasoning that shallow books should be chosen moving forward. Possibly, and mainly to start such a journey in a more effective and smoother manner, you might want to begin with smaller and easier steps.

What Else Will Happen?

Actual involvement with the site has been limited so far. That′s a fair statement. Still, and that′s more relevant, it′s encouraging and motivational that Zuck has started the reading initiative. It demonstrates that there are still many things we all can do for books and the promotion of reading and discussing. I′m sure he′ll find ways to further encourage people to stronger participate at future Q&As, to read more and broader, and to trigger off good conversations.

By the way, Zuck has already made his next book pick when having chosen Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels of Our Nature." It is a broadly discussed book (832 pages!) that argues that violence has decreased in modern times: "Recent events might make it seem like violence and terrorism are more common than ever, so it's worth understanding that all violence -- even terrorism -- is actually decreasing over time. If we understand how we are achieving this, we can continue our path towards peace...,“ Zuckerberg writes.

What do you think about Mark Zuckerberg′s reading initiative? What do you like about it? What is missing in your opinion? Which book would you propose?

Please join the discussion by leaving a comment below!

Best regards,

Andreas von der Heydt

Read here how you can keep up with Zuck′s reading pace.

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Andreas von der Heydt is the Head and Director of Kindle Content at Amazon in Germany. Before that he hold various senior management positions at Amazon and L'Oréal. He's a leadership expert and management coach. He also founded Consumer Goods Club. Andreas worked and lived in Europe, Australia, the U.S. and Asia. In his sparetime he′s mentoring ambitious and promising startups. Andreas enjoys blogging as a private person here on LinkedIn about various exciting topics. His articles have been published and quoted in Business Insider, WSJ Blog, World Economic Forum Blog, etc. All statements made, opinions expressed, etc. in his articles reflect only his personal opinion.

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