The Future According to Mark Zuckerberg

Contributing to the nascent body of research on communications strategies of Big Tech companies, this research explores the use of future-oriented language in keynote speeches given by the CEO of Meta Platforms, Inc., Mark Zuckerberg. After carefully reading and watching keynote speeches from 2007 – 2022, I describe the gist of each speech and place it in time by offering the context of public scandals. Content analysis revealed that the use of future-oriented rhetoric in keynote speeches increased over time with two sharp peaks at moments of heightened controversy. An anomalous year with heightened controversy but decreased future-oriented discourse highlights the importance of specific and irrefutable claims against the company as a tool to ground its CEO in the present moment.

Author

• Ostwald, Samantha

Language

• en

Date created

• 2023

Type of Work

• Master's Thesis

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Media & Strategic Communications

Degree

• M.A.

Advisor

• Karpf, David

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/ms35t9405