Exploring the Impact of Facebook: An In-Depth Look at the Company Shaping Global Communication

H. O'Sullivan: This book really surprised me. I'm not into business books. I'm not into IT. I don't even have a Facebook or Twitter account. I watched The Social Network on TV the other week, so many of my friends are Facebook users, and I became curious as to the story behind Facebook.
I ordered the book second-hand and didn't actually pick it up for some time because it's a substantial paperback and the typescript is very small. In other words, there was a lot there to read and again, I'm not really into that sort of literature.
When I did start reading this book I was very pleasantly surprised and found it hard to put down. Not only is the story behind Facebook very interesting and fast-paced, but the author of this book has a most enjoyable style of writing. He managed to put together a most readable, engaging and at times even entertaining account of the conception and development of Facebook. The author did have amazing access to people that mattered, people on the "front line", but - in my opinion - painted a fair and not uncritical picture of the company and the people behind it.
If you're in any way interested in social media, you could do a lot worse than to pick up this book....

United Kingdom on Feb 09, 2016

Nancyhua: When I went back online after disappearing from the internet for a few years, I used Facebook to reconnect with everyone and learn about what had changed (who knew non-traders even have their own form of colocation except they call it peering?). Apparently while I was invisible online, Zuck was off executing on his vision of Facebook as a platform, an ambition that impresses me because he had this idea back in the day when few companies had that vision.

Although it's possible that hindsight and the human instinct for narrative spins lucky randomness into deliberate strategic decisions, Zuck certainly talks and acts like a visionary, confident leader. He says, "We can make the world a more open place... Let's build something that has lasting cultural value and try to take over the world." Repeatedly refusing to sell the company, first for tens of millions, later for billions and tens of billions, Zuck comes off as passionate about the project, really believing his ideology, not caring about money, and thinking extremely long term.

Unlike some "serial entrepreneurs" whose goals are to create a company with the intent of getting acquired, Zuck, an idealist (one anecdote...

United States on May 11, 2012

Romit Patel: A received this book within a couple days of ordering it and i found it an excellent read so far. I'm not a keeno reader but I managed to get through about 70 pages in one evening, so its great for those who have found a niche that they enjoy to read. The book does have very similar/disimilar references to The Social Network but with some obvious additions that don't bore you down with the details.

However, this book is not a quick read and if you are after those type of books then I suggest opting for 'Screw it Lets do it - Richard Branson'. From the first section it is a well balanced booked that doesn't get you into the emotions of each member of facebook but rather where they stood and what they brought to the team hence this book is focused on facebook corporation not Mark Z, etc. (I think it will be abit Premiership-football-player like to release a biograph at the mere age of 27! ha)

A potential downfall, not at fault of the author, is that facebook does not know what is yet and is has clearly not matured/declined. Therefore I predict the final parts of the book will be filled with open ended questions resulting in you begging to read the sequel - The rise...

United Kingdom on Feb 12, 2012

DOPPLEGANGER: Much as been said and written about the phenomenal success, since it's start-up in 2004, of the ubiquitous social networking site, Facebook. From humble beginnings, but with hindsight inspirational foresight and determination,and whilst in his first year at Harvard, Mark Zukerberg and his coterie drove through with almost a religious fervour his concept of the future of global communications, into a mammoth modern technology company.

That company Facebook has now been morphed into a massive concern with upwards of 500 million of us having joined up to socialise among family and friends, make new acquaintances, and 'rubber-neck' other's lives and goings-on. It also allowed us a freedom and flexibility of instant communication and networking that hitherto had not been available to the great unwashed masses.

David Kirkpatrick's most competent and engagingly attention-holding book 'The Facebook Effect' does an excellent job in tracking the growth of the Google Business from the early days at Harvard through until 2010, including all of it's teething troubles and growth pains, warts and all. He was given extensive access to Zuckerberg and his team which helped him build...

United Kingdom on Jun 19, 2011

AM: I bought this after watching the film and it nicely fills in the gaps that had to be left out of the movie.

It's quite incredible how quickly this became a success. I'd like to say Facebook is one of those 'once in a generation' type of companies but I suspect many will come along with just as good ideas that take off just as quickly. It's the nature of the game.

The book is quite well written and done with an edge of intrigue from the author.

It's not a quick read (well not in my half-hour lunch breaks!) but leaves me inspired with my brain ticking over into the afternoon. Man I need to escape the 9 to 5!

Facebook fan, programmer, entrepreneur or you've just seen the film, I think you'll really like this book.

United Kingdom on May 03, 2011

Reading Fan: Facebook is both impressive and scary, especially after reading this very well-researched book. I now better understand the origins and potential of Facebook, but am still ambivalent and uneasy about some things, especially the privacy issues. Regardless, it is an amazing story of a college dorm-room site gone viral all over planet earth to a worth of $50-billion in just a few years, via a Harvard sophomore and his roommates! Founder Mark Zuckerberg, the sophomore, is undoubtedly a brilliant visionary, but what kind of virtual world of personal information sharing are we evolving into?

To start to understand Facebook, I read the Time Magazine article recently that named the 26-year-old Zuckerberg as `Person of the Year'. I then saw a highly acclaimed movie, The Social Network, based on `The Accidental Billionaires' which I also listened to from a library audio-book CD-set. Finally, a few weeks ago, I opened an account on Facebook and started using it.

The first thing is that Facebook is indeed big and comprehensive, and recently surpassed Google as the number-one website on earth. Zuckerberg said his goal is `total ubiquity' for Facebook, and it seems like it is...

United States on Mar 14, 2011

Serghiou Const: The book authored by David Kirkpatrick, Fortune magazine's main tech writer in New York, is insightful, excellently researched and documented, comprehensive in detailing the evolutionary development of the company and its landmarks, vividly sketching the atmosphere, setting and main actors and convincingly portraying the personality, clarity of vision and profound focus on the growing of the user base, continued improvement in the user experience, transparency and the long term as opposed to profits and the short term of the young founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.

The defining characteristics of Facebook since its inception which at the time was confined to the student body of the elite Harvard University were an online profile based upon a user's genuine identity that is real name, e-mail and photo and a network of friend connections. The default privacy setting was that such a community of friends could all see one another's information. These defining characteristics persist to the present day and worths mention that at the end of February 2010 when the book concludes, Facebook numbered 400 million active users, adding 25 million new users every month while it...

United Kingdom on Sep 03, 2010