Here’s what Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to say in January about consumers’ changing views on Internet privacy:

“When I got started in my dorm room at Harvard, the question a lot of people asked was ‘why would I want to put any information on the Internet at all? Why would I want to have a website?’

“And then in the last 5 or 6 years, blogging has taken off in a huge way and all these different services that have people sharing all this information. People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people. That social norm is just something that has evolved over time.”

Problem is, the social norm is not driven by society. It is driven by inventive manufacturers with tremendous vision who make terrific products, in this case Facebook.

Before TiVo, recording television shows and movies to a hard drive that could be viewed at any time (no tapes!) was not the social norm.

Before Palm, keeping a calendar and task list on a handheld device was not the social norm.

Before Apple, listening to digital music files on tiny players was not the social norm.

Before Ford, driving around on four wheels was not the social norm.

Zuckerberg’s quote was in reference to Facebook’s loosening up of privacy terms. People don’t mind sharing their private lives publicly because it’s the new social norm, he said. Yeah, and Facebook made it that way. Without Facebook, that social norm doesn’t exist.

That’s a hell of a responsibility. And today’s top consumer electronics makers like Apple, Microsoft, Google and, yes, Facebook must be aware of their massive influence on society — and tread carefully and respectfully.