As Facebook users continue to deal with some of the problems caused by the site’s recent privacy settings overhaul, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shared a bold proclamation about the importance of privacy in these modern, web-centric times. Speaking with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, Zuckerberg said that the “social norm” regarding privacy has evolved over time and that if he were to found Facebook today he would default profiles to public sharing.

To see Zuckerberg’s comments, check out the video below. The conversation related to privacy from the 3:00 – 4:00 minute mark.

A couple things stand out about Zuckerberg’s comments. For one, he says “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people.” To an extent, that’s true. With the rise of Web 2.0, social media has become one of the most important modes of communication in society. While not everyone is using the web, a large percentage of professionals are realizing that proactive reputation management requires a strong presence online, which includes social networking websites.

However, Zuckerberg’s follow-up statement is puzzling. Regarding the reason Facebook underwent its recent changes, he says, “We view it as our role in the system to constantly be innovating and be updating what our system is to reflect what the current social norms are.” With over 350 million users, it’s somewhat difficult to believe that Facebook just goes with the cultural flow. As Marshall Kirkpatrick writes in a very critical article for ReadWriteWeb, “Facebook itself is a major agent of social change” and, as such, it has the power to dictate social norms.

The reality is that Facebook opened itself up more publicly to make the company more attractive for advertisers and to fight off hard-charging competitors like Twitter. It’s not a bad thing, per se, it’s just business. Considering that a negligible amount of users actually left Facebook over its recent privacy changes, despite overwhelming complaints from across the web, it would appear that, at the moment, people care more about the value they get from Facebook than the risk of sharing their information publicly.

This isn’t always the case, however. For many users who are new to Facebook, particularly older users, privacy is still very important. Additionally, as Facebook continues its march out of the hip urban locales where it first took hold into smaller and smaller communities, the company is likely to find that perceptions of privacy do not hold true across the land.

Moving forward, it will be interesting to see where Facebook goes in terms of privacy, and how Facebook users will adapt to it. I predict that, as more and more people become familiar with the principles of reputation management, they will continue using Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites, but they will do so with a far higher degree of sensitivity and awareness. Do you have any opinion on where Facebook may be headed?