Feb 6, 2018 - Technology

Report: Facebook hired pollster to track Zuck's reputation

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Facebook hired a pollster specifically to track CEO Mark Zuckerberg's perception around the globe, according to a report by The Verge.

Why it matters: It underscores how invested Facebook is in the image of its founder as he becomes its chief defenders against charges that the social platform is being manipulated to the detriment of its users.

Details: Tavis McGinn applied for the job last Spring, without knowing that it was a political market research job.

  • McGinn says he conducted research on different aspects of how the company, its CEO and its COO Sheryl Sandberg are perceived.
  • “It was a very unusual role,” McGinn tells The Verge. "It’s very advanced research.”

Smart take from The Verge's Casey Newton: "Facebook is not unique among tech companies in conducting surveys to gauge perceptions about its brand ... But it is unusual for a company to have a staff person charged exclusively with monitoring perceptions of its CEO full time."

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Jeff Sessions. Photo: Michael DeMocker/Getty Images

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Why it matters: Sessions had been the underdog in the race against former Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tuberville, who had the backing of President Trump. Tuberville will now face off against Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) in November, who is considered to have one of the most vulnerable Democratic Senate seats in the country.

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Bank CEOs brace for worsening economic scenario

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. Photo: J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

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Why it matters: The cumulative $28 billion in loan loss provisions that banks have so far announced they’re reserving serves as a signal they’re preparing for a colossal wave of loan defaults as the economy slogs through a coronavirus-driven downturn.

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