Net-savvy Najib is way to go, says Facebook's Zuckerberg

2009/11/18

By Kristina George and Koi Kye Lee

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak once again scored brownie points for being Internet savvy by embracing new media on the world wide web. This time he was lauded by Facebook marketing director Randi Zuckerberg for owning a Facebook account.

She was thrilled that more and more world leaders were jumping aboard the Facebook bandwagon as this showed that governments cared about what the people thought.

Zuckerberg, who spoke on the last day of the Youth Engagement Summit 2009 (YES) here, recommended that government leaders have a public page account on Facebook as people worldwide were now discussing politics and government-related issues daily on Facebook.

"It is getting increasingly important for these leaders to reach out to their people through this medium, as Facebook is not just a social network but also a vital tool to conduct serious discussions on global issues," she told reporters here yesterday.

She suggested a public page for every leader and celebrity as they would be able to accept an unlimited number of friend request as opposed to the 5,000 friend limit for a personal profile.

"We recently ran a study to track international networking through Facebook and found that in just one hour some 6,000 new friends were made between Palestine and Israel. This clearly indicates that Facebook would be able to lubricate peacekeeping in the near future."

She added that the importance of Facebook was also clearly demonstrated when the President of the United States, Barrack Obama rallied and campaigned throughout the election last year using Facebook.

She said that Facebook speedily removed and blocked those found guilty of identity theft and other fraudulent activities on the network.

Another speaker at YES, former world chess champion Garry Kasparov told some 3,000 youths from across Southeast Asia that he believed innovation played a major role in shaping the changing world.

"Though innovations can be a risk, failing to be innovative is riskier," he said.

Kasparov added that innovation required more than knowledge, facts, figures and power.

"To be truly innovative and to create something new, risks must be taken and it is vital to identify the objectives of a plan besides following the strategic planning that has been formed.

"Each procedural step that will be taken has to be visualised and obstacles have to be analysed, besides determining the strengths and weakness of the opponents."

Besides identifying one's strengths and weaknesses, youths must also be ready to determine an opponent's flaws and substances.

"To succeed, tactics and strategies have to be applied, besides recognising the decision making model that is to be used in any situation.

"But always remember that failure is also a part of any success. Failure is an important part in education because it provides an opportunity to learn from previous mistakes made."