Slang dictionary
Zuckered
or zuckered [zuhk-erd]
What does Zuckered mean?
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, and I’ll willingly post all my personal information on Facebook. To be Zuckered is to get tricked by Mark Zuckerberg–or more specifically, by his social media company, Facebook–for either financial gain or at the expense of your personal information.
Where does Zuckered come from?
Zuckered is a punny blend of suckered (“conned”) and the last name of Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. The exact meaning of the term has varied, but central to it is being tricked or conned in some way, either by Facebook or by Zuckerberg himself. You may get conned out of an idea, or for money.
When you take an idea to a developer and they delay you to build their own version, you've been zuckered. Don't be a zorry zucker.
— Tyler Bye (@tbye) December 10, 2010
Zuckered took off after the release of The Social Network in 2010. The film, about the creation of Facebook, focuses on Zuckerberg’s relationships with Eduardo Saverin (a Facebook cofounder) and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (the twins who launched an early competitor), all of whom sued Zuckerberg over issues relating to Facebook.
I love the Winklevoss twins!! Lol doing pistachio commercials since Mark Zuckerburg suckered them out of billions!
— cmh. (@sixtwentyfive_) January 28, 2012
Around 2010, Zuckered was being used to refer to claiming someone else’s idea as your own–a plain reference to Zuckerberg allegedly stealing the idea for Facebook from the Winkelvoss brothers.
But even then, Zuckered was already being used in reference to Facebook’s data privacy issues, which notably hounded the company in the late 2010s.
From the WSJ.com's privacy series – I'd say we're all being Zuckered, baby – Facebook in Privacy Breach http://on.wsj.com/csiv2m
— Michael Benidt (@michaelbenidt) October 18, 2010
In May 2012, Zuckered reappeared after a disastrous plunge of Facebook stock following the revelation that Facebook misled investors.
"Zuckered" – Buy high and watch it die. Facebook shares plunge and investors cry foul. Class action suit filed. #FB #Facebook
— Redge (@Versalytics) May 24, 2012
In April 2018, Mark Zuckerberg made headlines once again after he testified before Congress concerning Facebook’s role in the Cambridge Analytical scandal. During his testimony, which opened with an apology about “mistakes” about privacy and the prevalence of fake news on his site, Zuckerberg stated that Facebook does not share users’ data with other companies. In fact, Zuckerberg publicly spent much of 2018 apologizing for supposedly unintended privacy leaks involving Facebook.
However, The New York Times revealed that Facebook had in fact shared data with over 150 companies, including Microsoft and Amazon. To many, it appeared Mark had Zuckered everyone yet again.
@SenateFloor @houseofrep YOU'VE BEEN ZUCKERED! LOOK AT GOOGLE AND TWITTER TOO. ‘Zuckerberg lied to Congress’ https://t.co/HblOXwaAkI
— RetiredDeplorable (@NancyGe64436230) June 5, 2018
Examples of Zuckered
Who uses Zuckered?
Zuckered is most often seen in the construction, to get or be Zuckered. Fittingly, it’s most commonly used on social media.
Don't get Zuckered#DeleteFacebook
— Boo! Hoot!! (@64by4) April 11, 2018
To get Zuckered can mean to have your private information taken from you by improper means…
<me> “My identity was stolen, I’d like to replace my license and health card.”
<gov worker> “Ah, you got Zuckered."
— March of Second Winter (@marchofthenorth) April 12, 2018
Looks like millions of people got #Zucked and #Zuckered !
— Rick Crowley (@tweetingbrit) April 4, 2018
And, in rough times, getting Zuckered can describe losing your investment money when Facebook’s stock plunges in response to Zuckerberg’s antics.
The #Facebook #IPO – classic case of fools & money. Shares sub 30 bucks & 20% fall in value. Good work, everybody…you just got #zuckered..
— Nigel Page (@nigelrpage) May 29, 2012
Zuckered is also sometimes used disparagingly of Jeff Zucker, president of CNN, often by conservatives who view his news network as Trumpian “fake news.” But mostly it’s referring to Mark Zuckerberg.
‘How we all got Zuckered’… fab extract from #Zucked by @Moonalice in today’s @DailyMailUK @HarperNonFic pic.twitter.com/ugmlEUxTTu
— Josie Turner (@josietturner) February 16, 2019
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of Zuckered like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of Zuckered that will help our users expand their word mastery.