Mind the Gap | Social media tycoons should stick to tech and stay out of politics

Just because you are a social media tycoon doesn’t mean you can lead a social movement. Seduced and convinced by their own polished public relations, Silicon Valley heavyweights are wading into politics in a way that could unpredictably ricochet public opinion against them.

I miss the days when Silicon Valley tech billionaires of the 80s and 90s like Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Paul Allen confined their competition and fascination to building expansive yachts, collecting splendid islands and shedding wives and girlfriends.

Today’s tech overlords are even bigger billionaires, their egos inflated by massive stock market valuations and new social media frontiers. But their business ambitions have spilled over into the political arena.

Much of the hubris is fuelled by the pyramid of money at the top 1 per cent. In 2012, Facebook acquired Instagram for US$1 billion. In 2014 Facebook bought WhatsApp for US$22 billion. Last year, Microsoft spent US$26.2 billion on LinkedIn. Buying up smaller companies is usually part of a wider strategy – by acquiring proprietary technologies the tech giants have gained competitive advantage and cemented their wealth.

Wealth beyond avarice as private jets and sprawling mansions have become such disaffected motifs that turning their ardour and attention to social engineering through politics has become their latest conceit.

Unlike other chief executives, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is one of the first tech executives to openly and directly criticise President Donald Trump. He attacked an executive order that declared “extreme vetting” of immigrants and a ban on Syrian refugees. Zuckerberg wrote: “We should also keep our doors open to refugees and those who need to help. That’s who we are.”