海角大神

聽Mark Zuckerberg plans to log some serious miles in 2017.

The Facebook chief executive intends to visit at least 30 states this year to get to know as many Americans as possible.

Mr. Zuckerberg鈥檚 pledge comes in the wake of a tumultuous year for both Facebook and the nation. The social media network has started to confront head on allegations about fakes news, censorship, and bias. The presidential election, meanwhile, showed the deep political divisions across party, geographic, and class lines.

Through his road trip, Zuckerberg says he wants to hear more about the lives of all different types of Americans with the goal of bringing polarized groups together through Facebook and other ventures.

鈥淢y hope for this challenge is to聽聽about how they鈥檙e living, working, and thinking about the future,鈥� Zuckerberg wrote Tuesday in a Facebook post. 鈥淚t will help me lead the work at Facebook and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative so we can make the most positive impact as the world enters an important new period.鈥�

The itinerary is Zuckerberg鈥檚 personal challenge he takes on for himself each January, which he shares with the public at the start of the year. He said his past challenges have included running 365 miles, learn Mandarin, and building an artificial intelligence system for his home.

This year, it will be to have visited all 50 states. By his own estimation, Zuckerberg has apparently already traveled to 20. His travels to remaining states will take on the form of road trips, visits to towns and universities, meetings with teachers and scientists, and recommendations from Facebook users.

The tour will come on the heels of Facebook confronting allegations it contributed to the proliferation of fake news and user biases. During the election, fake news spread across the internet, leading some to聽lay the blame on social media sites聽like Facebook. These critics said Facebook allowed the spread of inaccurate articles to go unchecked. In the months beforehand, allegations also surfaced that the social media network聽reinforced users鈥� political biases, which Facebook denied.

While Facebook had previously indicated it wasn鈥檛 responsible for fake news because it was a tech company not a publisher, Zuckerberg shifted his tone last month during a Facebook Live interview. In a conversation with Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, Zuckerberg said Facebook is 鈥渁 new kind of platform,鈥� not a 鈥渢raditional technology company.鈥�

鈥淵ou know, we build technology and we feel responsible for how it鈥檚 used,鈥� he said, indicating Facebook is a place for public discourse, like聽, according to TechCrunch.

Zuckerberg indicated in his Facebook post Tuesday that his national road trip plays into this philosophy.

鈥淕oing into this challenge, it seems we are at a turning point in history. For decades, technology and globalization have made us more productive and connected. This has created many benefits, but for a lot of people it has also made life more challenging. This has contributed to a greater sense of division than I have felt in my lifetime,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淲e need to find a way to change the game so it works for everyone.鈥�

The nature of the challenge 鈥� a countrywide tour 鈥� has led some to wonder if Zuckerberg is positioning himself to run for office someday. The tech executive did聽聽asking Facebook鈥檚 board of directors to allow him to work in government while retaining control of Facebook, according to Bloomberg.

Zuckerberg said in his Facebook post Tuesday he will update users soon about how they can join his national tour. 聽