Notes on an Apology Tour

Mark Zuckerberg’s history of public apologies stretches from the launch of his first product, Facemash, in 2003 to the apology tour that followed the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018. The objects here give a glimpse into the Facebook founder’s communication strategies and his many ways of saying sorry over the years.

During Zuckerberg’s congressional testimony in 2018, an AP photographer snapped a picture of Zuckerberg’s briefing notes that were left on the table during a break. The notes that were visible in the photograph are transcribed here. The talking points give insights into Facebook’s strategies for spinning its responses to questions. In the Rolodex, you can browse through a sample of the apologies, acknowledgments, lessons learned, pledges, and promises that Zuckerberg has made in the past 16 years. Also included are the questions asked by EU Parliamentarians and US Senators at hearings in 2018.

• These objects are based on publicly available data and rely on research and transcriptions by The Washington Post and The Zuckerberg Files, hosted by the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee’s Digital Commons.