The Facebook Effect

by David Kirkpatrick

  Meanwhile, the service has just kept growing and has not measurably lost the collective allegiance of any class, age, or nationality of user. This trend cannot last forever, but it has shown no signs of stopping yet, as Facebook’s relentless internationalization continues. “Even we are still trying to comprehend the scale and power of what it is we’ve built,” marvels Chamath Palihapitiya, vice president for growth and internationalization. “We think this is a company that will build value for decades and decades and decades.”

  Facebook is changing our notion of community, both at the neighborhood level and the planetary one. It may help us to move back toward a kind of intimacy that the ever-quickening pace of modern life has drawn us away from.

  At the same time, Facebook’s global scale, combined with the quantity of personal information its users entrust to it, suggests a movement toward a form of universal connectivity that is truly new in human society. The social philosopher and media theorist Marshall McLuhan is a favorite at the company. He coined the term “the global village.” In his influential 1964 book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, he predicted the development of a universal communications platform that would unite the planet. “Rapidly, we approach the final phase of the extensions of man—the technological simulation of consciousness,” he wrote, “when the creative process of knowing will be collectively and corporately extended to the whole of society.” We are not there yet. Facebook is not what he describes. The world remains fragmented. But no previous tool has ever extended a “creative process of knowing” so widely.

  The overall contributions of Facebook’s users constitute a global aggregation of ideas and feelings. Some have gone so far as to say it could evolve toward a kind of crude global brain. The reason people sometimes talk like that is that once all this personal data exists in one place it can be examined by sophisticated software in order to learn new things about aggregate sentiment or ideas. One company project announced in late 2009 is the Gross National Happiness Index. Analytic software measures the occurrence over time of words and phrases on Facebook that suggest happiness or unhappiness. That produces a chart that is intended to be “indicative of how we are collectively feeling,” according to a post on the Facebook Blog. Initially it will only plumb data produced by English-speakers in the United States. But over time it will likely be extended more broadly, creating an unprecedented gauge of global sentiment. Such tools will become steadily more capable.

  Facebook embodies stunningly efficient qualities of universal connectivity. Go to its search box and type in the name of anyone you’ve ever met. The chances are good you will be directed to a page with their name and photo. If you want, from there you can send them a message. Facebook aims to assemble a directory of the entire human race, or at least those parts of it that are connected to the Internet. It creates a direct pathway between any two individuals.

  These capabilities might conceivably over time lead to more global understanding. Or perhaps they won’t. Maybe we will use Facebook merely to connect more closely to those we already know. Maybe doing that will reinforce our sense of tribal separation.

  After all, Zuckerberg’s original conception of Facebook, maintained rigorously until recently, was of a service to communicate with people you already are acquainted with in real life. As Facebook encountered the need to build its revenues, it embraced commercial pages and a marketing culture that has come to coexist alongside a culture of personal interconnection. Then, as the Twitter challenge emerged, it expanded its self-definition further to become a service where people communicate with everyone as well as with their friends. In some ways this was a natural consequence of another of Zuckerberg’s founding premises—that “sharing” and transparency were becoming irresistible elements of modern experience.

  But reciprocal personal connections packed with very private data may not coexist well with unbridled sharing. Does it really make sense to combine the original conception of Facebook with what Twitter and MySpace and a host of other, less-restrictive services do? Can a system based on trust ever evolve to become truly open?

  The answer to such questions will depend on decisions that Facebook makes as it refines and improves its service. Zuckerberg cares deeply about Facebook’s potential to serve as a bridge between people. He will work to turn it ever more into a town square for the global village. But as we have heard, he also has a conviction about the importance of helping people protect their most sensitive personal data. Maintaining the enthusiasm of hundreds of millions of people who joined originally to communicate with their friends will remain his ongoing challenge.

  Postscript

  By the time you read this book, Facebook will likely have exceeded half a billion active users. It announced 400 million in February 2010 but has been adding about 25 million new users every month.

  The company is increasingly embedded in the fabric of modern life and culture. One frequently overhears the word “Facebook” in conversations in public places in almost every country, no matter what the language. One dictionary named “unfriend” the 2009 word of the year. TV shows embed Facebook in their story line.

  Facebook’s social impact continues to broaden. For many adults all over the world, it has rekindled moribund relationships. Jon Weisblatt, a marketing consultant in Austin, Texas, wrote a note on the Facebook page I maintain devoted to this book (www.facebook.com/thefacebookeffect) in which he coined the phrase “Facebook vertigo.” That’s the feeling he gets “when I suddenly see the names and faces of friends from long ago.” And for those looking for love, Facebook represents a chance to try again. Since more or less every former friend is accessible via a simple Facebook message, many are tempted to get back in touch with crushes from high school or college. So many people have renewed relationships in this way that a word has emerged to describe them—“retrosexuals.”

  But Facebook has also become yet another place for the antisocial to wreak havoc. Vandals and commercial miscreants now frequently set up phony sites that look like Facebook in order to harvest people’s passwords. Then they log in to Facebook using the stolen password and send spam messages to that person’s friends, often with the aim of stealing yet more passwords. Such a “phishing” page fooled even the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski. A bunch of his Facebook friends received a cryptic message reading, “Adam got me started making money with this.”

  Facebook’s competitors in general-interest social networking are struggling. MySpace is losing money. Bebo, acquired in 2008 by AOL for $850 million, is now for sale. Both MySpace and Classmates.com, a long-standing if rudimentary social network focused on connecting old high school friends, have put some of their own services onto Facebook’s platform and begun to use Facebook Connect.

  For Zuckerberg one uncomfortable price of success is celebrity. He cannot dine out in Silicon Valley without being recognized and interrupted by people who ask for his autograph or take his picture.

  A friend of mine lives in Palo Alto a few blocks from Facebook’s offices. One weekend he was returning late at night from a long day of family activities with a car full of irritable children. He and his wife were relieved to finally be home. But as he approached his driveway, his car’s headlights silhouetted a man standing on the sidewalk, blocking his path.

  The small man with curly hair didn’t notice them. He was oblivious, immobilized, hands clasped behind his back, head down, lost in thought. There was a gravity in the man’s demeanor. My friend paused. Despite his family’s exhaustion, his instinct told him not to interrupt. He waited. After a minute or so, the pensive Mark Zuckerberg looked up and continued slowly down the sidewalk.

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks go first to Mark Zuckerberg. Had he not encouraged me to write this book and cooperated as I did so, it would likely not have happened. As I proceeded, I often said to myself and to others how much I liked writing a book about someone so committed to transparency. He tried hard to ans
wer even questions that had embarrassing answers.

  It would have been impossible to spend so much time on this project without the support and love of my wife, Elena Sisto, and my daughter, Clara Kirkpatrick, who also often served as a two-person Facebook focus group. They formed the core team.

  At Simon & Schuster I was blessed with not just one but two terrific editors. Bob Bender ran the project and oversaw everything with the aplomb and judgment that makes him such an admired industry veteran. In addition, Dedi Felman’s advice on structure and her surgical editing were invaluable.

  My superb agent Wayne Kabak guided me throughout the process with sage counsel, and I am deeply grateful. Thanks also to Jim Wiatt for convincing me I should write a book. Teri Tobias is my terrific international agent.

  Julia Lieblich was a partner. Without her help I couldn’t have pulled it off. Judy Adler was another critical ally.

  At Facebook, Brandee Barker was my guru. She spent innumerable hours helping me figure out who to talk to and sitting patiently as I did so. Elliot Schrage, who heads all communications for the company, was hugely supportive and helpful. Larry Yu also did yeoman’s service in the interview process, and Maureen O’Hara performed frequent scheduling miracles.

  My close friend Brent Schlender read proposals and weighed in throughout with advice honed by a quarter century covering technology. Jessi Hempel contributed in a variety of ways. Other friends who helped include Jim Aley, Marc Benioff, Lynne Benioff, Brett Fromson, Frank Levy, Ellen McGirt, Rick Moody, Peter Petre, Julie Schlosser, and Della Van Heyst. Justin Smith and John Battelle contributed wisdom from the trenches. Tedd Ross Pitts and Gretl Rasmussen worked on the hard stuff. Ali Axon cheered me on.

  Special thanks also to Matt Cohler, Joe Green, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, and Sean Parker.

  A Note on Reporting for This Book

  Facebook cooperated extensively in the preparation of The Facebook Effect, as did CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Almost nobody connected to the company refused to talk to me. However, there was no quid pro quo. Facebook neither requested nor received any rights of approval, and as far as I know, its executives did not see the book before it went to press. Company employees, when confronted with a particularly probing question, periodically stopped and turned quizzically to the Facebook public relations person who was often nearby, but they were without exception encouraged to answer my question. And I talked to many people without supervision.

  Some people submitted to multiple interviews. First among these is Mark Zuckerberg himself. Others who were especially generous with their time included Jim Breyer, Matt Cohler, Chris Cox, Kevin Efrusy, Joe Green, Chris Hughes, Chris Kelly, Dave Morin, Dustin Moskovitz, Chamath Palihapitiya, Sean Parker, Dan Rose, Sheryl Sandberg, and Aaron Sittig.

  Other interviews at Facebook included Carolyn Abram, Aditya Agarwal, Ethan Beard, Charlie Cheever, Kevin Colleran, Adam D’Angelo, Gareth Davis, Dave Fetterman, Anikka Fragodt, Naomi Gleit, Jonathan Heiliger, Matt Jacobson, Meagan Marks, Scott Marlette, Cameron Marlow, Mike Murphy, Javier Olivan, Jeff Rothschild, Ruchi Sanghvi, Barry Schnitt, Mike Schroepfer, Peter Thiel, Gideon Yu, and Randi Zuckerberg.

  I spoke to many people who have interacted with or closely observed Facebook over its short history. In addition to some who prefer to remain unnamed, I interviewed Jonathan Abrams, Marko Ahtissari, Saeed Amidi, Marc Andreessen, Tim Armstrong, Samir Arora, Kevin Barenblat, Hank Barry, Tom Bedecarre, Gina Bianchini, Tricia Black, Rene Bonvanie, Jeremy Burton, Michele Clarke, Jared Cohen, Ron Conway, John Clippinger, Tom Crampton, Sebastian de Halleux, Soumitra Dutta, Nick Earle, Dani Essindi, Rahim Fazal, Lukasz Gadowski, Bill Gates, Seth Goldstein, Susan Gordon, Don Graham, Robert Hertzberg, Doug Hirsch, Reid Hoffman, Ken Howery, Joshua Iverson, Karl Jacob, Rebecca Jacoby, Bruce Jaffe, Josh James, Jeff Jarvis, Suzanne McGee, Mike Lazerow, Tara Lemmey, Sam Lessin, Max Levchin, Titus Levy, Charlene Li, Caroline Little, Chris Ma, Olivia Ma, Marissa Mayer, Oscar Morales, Yuri Milner, Rick Murray, Mairtini niDhomhnaill, Ray Ozzie, Philipp Pieper, Mark Pincus, Shervin Pishevar, Jeff Pulver, Scott Rafer, J. P. Rangaswami, Andrew Rasiej, Robin Reed, Gerry Rosberg, John Rosenthal, Marc Rotenberg, Geoff Sands, Marc Schiller, David Schlesinger, Clara Shih, Anu Shukla, Megan Smith, Justin Smith, Gary Spangler, Stan Stalnaker, Daniel Stauffacher, Seth Sternberg, Nick Summers, David Sze, Don Tapscott, Rodrigo Teijeiro, Owen Van Natta, Erik Wachtmeister, Duncan Watts, Bill Weaver, Andrew Weinreich, Maurice Werdegar, John Winsor, Michael Wolf, and Robert Wright.

  My sincere thanks to them all. I’ve tried to get it right.

  Notes

  Prologue: The Facebook Effect

  Page

  1 Then abruptly in late December the guerrillas announced: Ian James, “Venezuelan Mission Heads to Colombia,” Boston Globe, December 29, 2007, http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2007/12/29/venezuelan_mission_heads_to_colombia/ (accessed November 15, 2009).

  5 Had she been personally injured by FARC: Juliana Rincon Parra, “Colombia: United in a March Against the FARC,” Global Voices Online, February 5, 2008, http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/02/05/colombia-the-world-united-in-a-multitudinary-march/ (accessed November 15, 2009).

  8 In mid-2008 a Facebook group organized a huge water fight: Katie Franklin, “Facebook Water Fight Ruins Prized Garden,” Daily Telegraph, May 7, 2008, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/1935926/Facebook-water-fight-ruins-prized-garden-in-Leeds.html (accessed November 15, 2009).

  9 They heard about the pillow fight on Facebook: Angela Cunningham, “Facebook Phenomenon Hits Grand Rapids, Literally!,” WZZM-13, September 28, 2008, http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_story.aspx?storyid=99194&catid=14 (accessed November 15, 2009).

  14 The average Facebook user has: email from Brandee Barker, Facebook public relations (February 24, 2010).

  16 Now users around the world: email from Brandee Barker, Facebook public relations (February 24, 2010).

  16 About 108 million Americans are active on Face book: Justin Smith, The Facebook Global Monitor: Tracking Facebook in Global Markets (Palo Alto, CA: Inside Network, February 2010).

  1. The Beginning

  Page

  21 From his early years Zuckerberg had: Sarah Lacy, Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0 (New York: Gotham Books, 2008), 141.

  23 the Harvard Crimson later called it “guerrilla computing”: “M*A*S*H—Online ‘Facemash’ Site, While Mildly Amusing, Catered to the Worst Side of Harvard Students,” Harvard Crimson, November 6, 2003, http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2003/11/6/mash-for-the-most-monastic-undergraduates/ (accessed November 15, 2009).

  24 The Crimson somewhat eloquently opined: Ibid.

  24 “We Harvard students could indulge our fondness”: Ibid.

  24 By the time that happened, around 10:30 P.M.: Bari Schwartz, “Hot or Not? Website Briefly Judges Looks,” Harvard Crimson, November 4, 2003.

  25 Zuckerberg was accused of violations: Katharine Kaplan, “Facemash Creator Survives Ad Board,” Harvard Crimson, November 19, 2003.

  28 In a December 11 editorial titled: “Put Online a Happy Face: Electronic Facebook for the Entire College Should Be Both Helpful and Entertaining for All,” Harvard Crimson, December 11, 2003.

  28 “Much of the trouble surrounding the facemash”: “M*A*S*H—Online ‘Facemash’ Site, While Mildly Amusing, Catered to the Worst Side of Harvard Students,” Harvard Crimson, November 6, 2003.

  31 By Sunday—four days after launch: Alan J. Tabak, “Hundreds Register for New Facebook Website,” Harvard Crimson, February 9, 2004.

  31 Zuckerberg later told the Crimson that he “hoped”: Ibid.

  33 “The nature of the site,” he told the paper: Ibid.

  33 Wrote junior Amelia Lester: Amelia Lester, “Show Your Best Face: Online Social Networks Are a Hop, Click and Jump From Reality,” Harvard Crimson, February 17, 2004, http://www.thecrimson.harvard.edu/article/2004/2/17/show-your-best-face-lets-talk/ (accessed December 11, 2009)
.

  38 Zuckerberg and Saverin each agreed: email from Brandee Barker, Facebook public relations (December 11, 2009): “Mark believes each were going to put $10K or $20K in.”

  40 Back in that Crimson opinion piece: Ibid.

  2. Palo Alto

  Page

  46 In the end they even hired: Lacy, 147.

  47 Parker had to overdraw: Lacy, 148.

  64 Zuckerberg and Moskovitz were planning to launch: Olivia Ma, “Need Help? Check Down the Hall,” Newsweek, August 2, 2004, http://www.newsweek.com/id/54735/ (accessed December 11, 2009).

  3. Social Networking and the Internet

  Page

  66 In a 1968 essay by J. C. R. Licklider: J. C. R. Licklider and Robert Taylor, “The Computer as a Communication Device,” Science and Technology (April 1968), http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0353.html (accessed December 11, 2009).

  67 “A virtual community is a group of people”: Howard Rheingold, “Virtual Communities—Exchanging Ideas Through Computer Bulletin Boards,” Whole Earth Review (Winter 1987), http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1510/is_n57/ai_6203867/ (accessed November 15, 2009).

  67 Two Internet sociologists, danah boyd and Nicole Ellison: danah boyd and Nicole Ellison, “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, And Scholarship,” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13 (2007), http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html (accessed November 15, 2009).

  69 Nonetheless, by 1999 sixdegrees had reached: Details about sixdegrees from interview and email followup with Andrew Weinreich, 2009.

  74 But, according to Stealing MySpace: Julia Angwin, Stealing MySpace: The Battle to Control the Most Popular Website in America (New York: Random House, 2009), 52.

  76 In 2003, Angwin notes, the percentage of Americans: Ibid.

  77 Buyukkokten himself once bragged: Luke O’Brien, “Poking Facebook,” 02138 Magazine (November 2007), www.02138mag.com/magazine/article/1724.html (accessed November 28, 2009).