Mark Zuckerberg's Senate Testimony Predictably Led To Memes Galore

Jenna Amatulli
Updated

Memes ran amok on social media as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg spoke in front of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees on Tuesday to talk about Cambridge Analytica and security on the social network.

As Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) all gave opening statements, Zuckerberg sat quietly with a particularly powerful resting, uh, face.

(Photo: Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images)
(Photo: Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images)

“My top priority has always been our social mission of connecting people, building community and bringing the world closer together. Advertisers and developers will never take priority over that as long as I’m running Facebook,” Zuckerberg said in his opening statement.

“I started Facebook when I was in college. We’ve come a long way since then,” he said. “I realize the issues we’re talking about today aren’t just issues for Facebook and our community — they’re challenges for all of us as Americans.”

As the floor opened up to the 42 senators poised to ask him questions, the memes rolled in. Here are some of our favorites:

Uh ... good luck out there, Zuck.

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It Can Mess With Your Sleep

Heavy social media use can upset sleep patterns, <a href="http://qz.com/604970/researchers-have-established-a-worrisome-link-between-social-media-usage-and-sleep/" target="_blank">studies have found</a>. And not getting enough sleep can <a href="http://qz.com/604970/researchers-have-established-a-worrisome-link-between-social-media-usage-and-sleep/" target="_blank">cause you to check Facebook </a>compulsively. <br /><br />The result is an exhausting feedback loop that could leave you fried. &nbsp;&nbsp;

It Can Make You Depressed

Spending too much time on Facebook could stir up feelings of envy, according to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/04/facebook-envy_n_6606824.html" target="_blank">a study</a>&nbsp;published in 2015. Envy, in turn, could make you depressed.&nbsp;<br /><br />&ldquo;We found that if Facebook users experience envy of the activities and lifestyles of their friends on Facebook, they are much more likely to report feelings of depression,&rdquo; study co-author Dr. Margaret Duffy, a University of Missouri journalism professor, said in a press release.<br /><br />But, simply being aware that people are presenting their best selves -- and not necessarily their real selves -- on social media could help you feel less envious.

It Can Drain Your Smartphone Battery

Facebook's Android and iPhone apps are real <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/facebook-iphone-battery-life_us_56b8b6c5e4b08069c7a7fc54" target="_blank">battery sucks</a>. Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/arig/posts/10105815276466163" target="_blank">has said</a> it's addressing the problem. In the meantime, deleting the app from your smartphone could boost your battery by up to 20 percent.<br /><br /> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/facebook-iphone-battery-life_us_56b8b6c5e4b08069c7a7fc54">Here's</a>&nbsp;how to do it.

It Can Sap Your Focus

The average attention span is&nbsp;<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harlan-loeb/in-search-of-an-attention_b_8254864.html">decreasing</a>, according to research. Constant distractions created by our&nbsp;"digital lifestyles" could be changing our brain chemistry and sapping our focus. Yikes!

It Can Ruin Your Relationship

Social networks bring people together, but they can also <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/7-ways-facebook-can-ruin-your-relationship_us_56706867e4b0e292150f80b6" target="_blank">drive a wedge</a> between married couples, according to psychologists.&nbsp;Constantly checking Facebook&nbsp;can ruin intimate moments, and the ability to connect&nbsp;with old flames online can&nbsp;spark&nbsp;extra-marital trysts.

It Can Make You Socially Awkward

Our dependence on social media could be making it more <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/19/social-media-makes-you-socially-awkward_n_5512749.html">difficult to connect</a>&nbsp;with others&nbsp;in person.&nbsp;&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s the death of an actual civilized conversation,&rdquo; Justine Harman, features editor at Elle.com, told The Huffington Post&nbsp;in an interview in 2014.<br /><br />What's more, most of your Facebook friends <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/your-facebook-friend-count-is-a-sad-empty-lie_us_56a66278e4b0d8cc109ad9ba">don't really care</a> that much about you.

It Can Be A Huge Waste Of Time

The more time you spend on Facebook, the worse you feel, according to behavioral science <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/17/facebook-study_n_5595890.html">research</a>. That's because Facebook feels to many people like a waste of time.&nbsp;<br /><br />&ldquo;It appears that, compared to browsing the Internet, Facebook is judged as less meaningful, less useful, and more of a waste of time, which then leads to a decrease in mood,&rdquo; Christina Sagioglou and Tobias Greitemeyer, behavioral scientists at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, wrote in a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563214001241" target="_blank">paper published in 2014</a>. <br /><br />Facebook <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/29/facebook-experiment-psychological_n_5540018.html">doesn't always</a> make us feel crummy. But, if&nbsp;it does, it's time to do something else.&nbsp;

It Can Create An Echo Chamber

Critics of social media have long suggested that Facebook's algorithm -- which determines the&nbsp;posts you see based on posts you've clicked -- can create <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/12/facebook-study-polarization_n_7245192.html">"echo chambers</a>" online.&nbsp;Being exposed to content you&nbsp;already understand or agree with can insulate you&nbsp;from diverse views, critics argue. <br /><br />But Facebook disagrees, saying last year that it was&nbsp;<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zeynep-tufekci/facebook-algorithm-echo-chambers_b_7259916.html">not responsible </a>for creating echo chambers. Either way, Facebook still plays a big role&nbsp;in how people <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jake-newfield/5-ways-facebook-will-chan_b_8965152.html">consume information</a> online.

It Tracks (And Shapes) Your Behavior

Facebook uses <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-artificial-intelligence-berlin_us_56cf1048e4b0bf0dab30e4ba">complex machine learning</a>&nbsp;algorithms&nbsp;to decide&nbsp;what you see on the&nbsp;site. If it&nbsp;notices you like posts related to soccer, for instance, it might surface more soccer posts in&nbsp;your feed. But it&nbsp;<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/facebook-suggested-searches_us_569507eee4b05b3245da59fc">doesn't always get this&nbsp;right</a>. <br /><br />Eventually, it may get better at understanding people's preferences -- so much better that&nbsp;some experts fear how precisely&nbsp;future&nbsp;marketing and political campaigns will be able to target people. We might&nbsp;even come to "question <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/machine-learning-free-will_us_56d5a849e4b0871f60ecab33?utm_hp_ref=technology">whether we still have free will</a>,"&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~illah/" target="_blank" data-beacon="{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;entry_text&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:0}}">Illah Nourbakhsh</a>, a robotics expert at Carnegie Mellon University,&nbsp;told HuffPost in an interview.

It Knows When You Go To Bed At Night

Turns out, Facebook has enough information about you that it can be used to track when you turn in for the night and&nbsp;when you wake up in the morning. Danish software developer Soren Louv-Jansen developed&nbsp;a tool&nbsp;that used&nbsp;Facebook data to let people&nbsp;<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/facebook-hack-sleep-habits_us_56d61911e4b0871f60ed1eed">observe their&nbsp;friends' sleep patterns</a>.&nbsp;<br /><br />Though Facebook asked him&nbsp;to take down this tool, the stunt&nbsp;pointed to a&nbsp;larger issue of data privacy: We all reveal a&nbsp;huge amount of personal information online, and we can't always control how others use it.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.