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Opinion

Benioff's social-media barrage reveals his view of OWS

Saleforce.com CEO posts string of 'shocking' videos and pictures from Oakland

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Network World | Nov 3, 2011 6:12 PM PT

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For a notoriously outspoken businessman who extols the power of social media and the virtues of corporate transparency, Saleforce.com CEO Marc Benioff used the former to send one heck of a thinly veiled political message just a few hours ago.

And, if he didn't really mean what it seems he meant, Benioff isn't in any hurry to offer a clarification.

Boom, boom, boom and boom: In a 23-minute burst of four successive posts all appearing on (at least) his personal Twitter, Facebook and Google+ accounts, Benioff called the attention of his tens of thousands of social-media followers to videos and photographs depicting vandalism and mob-like actions yesterday on the part of Oakland protesters purporting to support the Occupy Wall Street movement.

But it's what he didn't say that spoke the loudest.

From his Google+ account:

11:29: A link to a post on Michelle Malkin's blog featuring what Benioff calls "shocking" photos of vandalism.
11:29: A link to a YouTube video - again called "shocking" by Benioff -- and labeled as having been taken, "During an anti-capitalism march on November 2." (Emphasis mine.)
11:35: Another link to YouTube video showing general mayhem outside of a Whole Foods Store, on which Benioff wrote only "Oakland Whole Foods Grocery Store."
11:52 A link without a word of commentary from Benioff to raw footage from the local NBC affiliate showing a mob knocking over a fence and tossing chairs around at the same Whole Foods Store. (The TV station did offer this context underneath its video: "While today's General Strike at Occupy Oakland was mostly peaceful, some people caused damage to businesses along the way, including this Whole Foods.")

Shocking? Maybe, but we've all seen much worse from sports fans (hello, Vancouver).

The issue here is whether Benioff really wants those images to speak for him when it comes to what he thinks about Occupy Wall Street, because it sure looks that way. And if he does that means he thinks that a movement polls show enjoying clear majority support in this country is grounded in lawlessness and antipathy to capitalism. Neither is true, in my view, nor do I believe it is the view of the overwhelming majority of OWS participants and supporters.

Of course, it would not be surprising to learn that Benioff isn't sympathetic to OWS. After all, with a net worth of about $2 billion, there's no doubt that he is a 1-percenter in Occupy Wall Street terms. However, he also appears to lean left politically, at least in public, having hosted a fundraiser for President Obama in April. And he and his wife are generous philanthropists whose $100 million pledge has been instrumental in the ongoing construction of a new hospital.

I asked the Salesforce.com public relations department if today's social-media postings were meant to reflect Benioff's general views about OWS, and received this reply from a spokeswoman: "If Marc decides to further comment on his views, he will do so on the social channels."

That's fine, but if he does he should speak more clearly instead of letting a bunch of hooligans and knuckleheads do his talking for him.

(Update: On the same day Benioff was torching the Occupy Oakland rowdies via his social media soapboxes, he holds the movement up as a shining example of the power of Twitter, Facebook, etc., in this interview on TechCrunch. Which is it?)

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