All Mark Zuckerberg’s random New Year's resolutions of the past decade – from wearing a tie to meeting a ‘non-Facebook’ person every day
Over the past 10 years the Facebook founder has made quirky annual pledges to learn Mandarin, meet someone from every US state – and either eat vegetarian or kill the animal himself
Every year since 2009, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has challenged himself to broaden his perspective “and learn something about the world beyond my work at Facebook”, he once explained.
His tool of choice? A New Year’s resolution.
His 2019 resolution was to hold public debates on the effects of technology on society, although in total there were only six, and just one was truly public.
His resolution the previous year was focused on his job. He wanted to fix Facebook’s hardest problem at the time: ending the platform’s abuse, whether through election-interference efforts, fake news or other nefarious practices.
His first resolution, in 2009, was also focused on his job: wear a tie every day.
“That first year, the economy was in a deep recession and Facebook was not yet profitable,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. “We needed to get serious about making sure Facebook had a sustainable business model. It was a serious year, and I wore a tie every day as a reminder.”
But many of his resolutions have focused more on personal growth – the kind that any of us might make.
Here’s the full list, in case you need inspiration to take on a New Year’s resolution of your own:
2009: Wear a tie every day
