Who would have thought, as 2012 dawned, that a piece of cotton could become so political?
First, of course, there was the shock of the Trayvon Martin case, where a Florida teen clad in the offending garment and carrying nothing but soda and Skittles was shot to death by a man who took one look at Martin's garb and thought him suspicious.
Suddenly, it seemed, wearing a hoodie was the most controversial statement you could make one that cut across lines of age and race. Youths participated in hoodie marches, demanding justice and an end to profiling. Rep. Bobby Rush wore one on the floor of the House of Representatives in solidarity with Martin, and was booted off for doing so. Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera urged teens not to wear them, then backed down in the wake of stinging criticism from his own son.
Now, less than two months later, it's Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who is making a cultural statement with his hoodie. And he isn't about to back down. Perhaps without realizing it, Zuck has stepped into the vanguard of a wider cultural war one of young against old, Silicon Valley against Wall Street.
As numerous outlets have reported, Zuck wore the hoodie his signature garment to several meetings with large banks and other institutional investors this week.
Was that a problem? It was for at least one of those investors. Analyst Michael Pachter of the firm Wedbush Securities, who is generally bullish on Facebook stock, went on Bloomberg TV to complain about Zuckerberg's attire. He suggested it spoke of immaturity, and went on to state that Facebook would do better without Zuck as the CEO.
Cue laughter, outrage, and a couple of dueling satirical Twitter accounts @Zuckerbergshood and @Zuckshoodie.
Pachter, responding to criticism across the blogosphere, has since clarified his statements. He wears a hoodie too, he has said, on occasion, out of the office. He just thinks that when you're presenting to bankers, you wear a jacket as a mark of respect. He pointed out that Zuck wore a suit to meet the President last year (ignoring the fact that Steve Jobs, seated on the other side of Obama, was proudly displaying his signature Jobs gear black turtleneck and jeans.)
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Interestingly, Pachter thinks it would have been okay had Zuck worn a jacket, a T-shirt and jeans. How times change. Wearing jeans and a T-shirt would have prevented you from getting a loan in a bank in 1972, let alone presenting to its top investors. Can we assume, then, that stuffy Wall Street types will routinely wear hoodies to work by 2042?
Clearly, there is a culture clash at work here. On Wall Street, clothes still maketh the man. I get that. (As I write these words, I'm wearing a suit for the purpose of a panel discussion later in the day). But that doesn't make suit-wearing the dominant culture.
In Silicon Valley, nobody cares about what you wear. They care about how good your code is. Who's to say they're wrong, or that they shouldn't take that ethos with them when they travel?
By sticking to his hoodie and we hope he does Zuck is indeed sending a signal. Not that he doesn't care about big investors, or else he wouldn't be there. But simply that he isn't going to change who he is, or what Facebook is.
The company has a proud hacker culture, as is clear to anyone who visits its new headquarters. Employees are not only encouraged to wear what they please, they're encouraged to "hack their space" and graffiti on the walls.
Wedbush Securities should be glad that Zuck refrained from taking a sharpie to their conference room, at least. And perhaps it's time for them and investors like them to show a little respect to the hoodie generation, and the massive, interlocking virtual world of social media it has managed to build.
What's your take on Hoodiegate? Let us know in the comments.
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The company is now completely moved out of its Palo Alto pad, and into the much more spacious Menlo Park facility it broke ground on last year.
Yes, Facebook really lives on Hacker Way.
That, Facebook staffers told us, was the joke name for the facility, which was previously owned by Sun Microsystems -- as seen on the reverse of the Facebook HQ sign. It was said to be drab and prison-like, but ...
... Facebook has brightened the place up considerably.
Facebook doesn't like to dress its campus in any kind of monolithic corporate way -- no blue decor everywhere. But it does like quirky art, such as this Facebook 'F' made out of circuit boards.
The aesthetic of the cafeteria, as with much of the campus: bright and spacious, with a deliberately unfinished look. Zuckerberg likes to say Facebook is "1% done," and the campus is in constant flux to represent that.
An example of how the campus is still in flux: there's an outdoor BBQ shack being built next to the dining area.
We can confirm the food in the cafeteria is delicious. Here's a random sampling. Notice there is no tray -- Facebook thinks you'll eat too much unless you only carry a plate.
Some of the graffiti that is encouraged on the walls -- and a tech support vending machine where you swipe your company pass and get the gadgets or chargers you need.
One of our favorite pieces of art on campus -- it reminds us of Mashable Connect.
This is where Facebook's billionaire founder takes his meetings.
How to get engineers to actually finish their product: motivational stencil.
Here's the pitch -- cover the whole wall with employees and visitors marking their height and writing their names next to it, just like you used to do as a kid.
Yep, that's Jeremy Lin, Palo Alto kid, coming to visit the campus in February. Go Knicks indeed.
Believe it or not, this wall-sized mural was done without the aid of stencils or guides of any kind.
Deep aphorisms mingle on the wall with fun cartoons.
Enter the Insanity Wolf Room, and there it is: Facebook's treadmill desk, available to all.
Even though Philz Coffee (a San Francisco institution) is available free throughout Facebook HQ, Philz is also doing a roaring trade with a paid cafe. Never underestimate the desire of engineers for fresh, well-made joe.
This crane-like industrial object was transported from the Palo Alto office, simply because Facebookers had gotten used to meeting underneath it.
A giant interactive screen shows you all the conference rooms on the floor. Red ones are taken, green ones are available.
There are a lot of Harry Potter fans at Facebook. All the Hogwarts-themed conference rooms were taken when we came to visit.
Extra-tall product designer at Facebook or famous golfer? You decide.
At the Temple Bar, where technology comes to get fixed, the wall is covered with favorite Internet memes.
First built at Palo Alto HQ, now replicated at the Menlo Park facility. Note the guy casually skating by.
Facebook is planning a whole other campus, the West Campus, across the street. This plan was sketched out on a whiteboard. Note the pedestrian tunnel to be dug between the campuses.
Many of the conference room names at Facebook are mixtures of two themes -- in this case, song titles and computer terminology.
Many of the conference rooms are named for memes. Note the tablet beneath each name, where you can reserve the room.
This conference room is a nod to the infamous description of the Internet by the late Senator Ted Stevens: "a series of tubes."
The international section of Facebook's cubes. There are no private offices in the whole facility.
We saw plenty of this Bill O'Reilly stencil -- and plenty of random spray paint art.
On the stairway, stencilled tributes to "FB Women."
What do geeky engineers love to do? Play boardgames! There are plenty of our favorites here, including Battlestar Galactica.
Another conference room music-technology name mashup.
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