Mark Zuckerberg's Manifesto Is Facebook's State Of The Union

These have been trying and soul-searching times for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. While his global advertising business is on fire, Facebook has been accused of spreading fake news, which some critics say has exacerbated political division and perhaps played a role in the election of President Donald Trump.

Zuckerberg has clearly been wrestling with these issues. The company has taken notable steps to address the spread of fake news, creating a new program dedicated to the problem after earlier downplaying it as an issue. And the executive has already kicked off his 2017 goal to visit and meet people in all 50 states, which fueled some speculation he might be preparing for office. 

While there is no indication that Zuckerberg is planning a move on to electoral politics (he said recently he isn't planning to run), he shared a nearly 6,000-word manifesto on Thursday that reads like something a statesman, not a businessman, would write.

In an open letter shared to his Facebook page, Zuckerberg highlighted Facebook's plan to shift from connecting friends and family, which it has emphasized for the past decade, to focusing on building the social infrastructure for a global community, using the world's largest social network as a foundation.

"For the past decade, Facebook has focused on connecting friends and families," Zuckerberg said in his letter. "With that foundation, our next focus will be developing the social infrastructure for community -- for supporting us, for keeping us safe, for informing us, for civic engagement, and for inclusion of all."

Zuckerberg's full letter can be read here: