Zuckerberg: Facebook looking at connecting you with ‘people you should know’

May 26, 2017 | 02:52 PM GMT+7

Facebook has been focused on connecting you with people you already know, but it “might be just as important to also connect you with people you should know,” says Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg: Facebook looking at connecting you with ‘people you should know’
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shown giving a speech. Photo: Marketwatch

That means “mentors and people outside your circle who care about you and can provide a new source of support and inspiration,” the social network’s cofounder wrote in a post dated Sunday.

The Facebook offered an update on his new year’s resolution, which was to travel to and meet people in the roughly 30 U.S. states that he has not visited before.

The “biggest takeaway so far” from his trips is that “our relationships shape us more than we think,” Zuckerberg wrote.

“In many ways, relationships are the most important things in our lives — whether we’re trying to form healthy habits, stay out of trouble, or find better opportunities,” he said. He has met with recovering heroin addicts in Ohio and young offenders at a juvenile prison in Indiana.

How would Facebook go about connecting people with mentors? One approach could be a “new digital peace corps,” while another model is Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, where people who have fought addiction go on to mentor others, the CEO said.

“This is something I’ve only recently started studying and working with our teams at Facebook to build,” he added.

Zuckerberg also addressed the fact that his travels have sparked speculation about whether he’s running for public office.

“I’m not. I’m doing it to get a broader perspective to make sure we’re best serving our community of almost 2 billion people at Facebook and doing the best work to promote equal opportunity at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative,” he wrote, referring to the philanthropic organization that he founded with his wife, Priscilla Chan.