Is Facebook Donation Just Damage Control?

A standing ovation for Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg as he announces a huge donation live on Oprah today!

The $100 million gift to schools in Newark, New Jersey is getting a lot of attention.

But some are questioning the timing of the headline-making super gift.

Matt Lauer on the Today Show asks, "Is it pure generosity or is it image building?"

Check out these headlines from online blogs:
Will act of charity buy Zuckerberg some friends?
Good PR or just generosity?

Why would a donation of this enormous generosity ever elicit such suspicion? It comes just one week before the eagerly awaited movie about Facebook hits theaters.

The Social Network is not kind to Zuckerberg. It portrays him as a genius but socially awkward computer geek who may or may not have stolen the idea for Facebook from classmates at Harvard.

Ben Mezrich wrote the book, "The Accidental Billionaires" on which the movie is based.

"He's brilliant, he's a genius. He's the guy who created Facebook, he's also incredibly strange. He isn't able to have a normal conversation. He's always been awkward. His best friend has always been his computer."

On an appearance on Oprah, Zuckerberg explains, "it's a movie it's fun. A lot of it is fiction, even the movie makers will admit that."

The normally private Zuckerberg gave Oprah a look at his home in Silicon Valley, and for a billionaire it's an incredibly modest rental.  

But will Zuckerberg be able to overcome the damage to his reputation the movie is certain to generate?
"In the end it makes Mark a much cooler person than he really is," said Mezrich.