This is a summary review of The Facebook Effect containing key details about the book.

What is The Facebook Effect About?

The Facebook Effect by David Kirkpatrick offers an in-depth look at the rise of Facebook and the impact it has had on society. (Full Summary…)

The Facebook Effect Summary Review

“The Facebook Effect” by David Kirkpatrick offers a comprehensive and insightful exploration into the evolution of Facebook, uncovering the intriguing story of its inception, growth, and its profound impact on the world. Kirkpatrick, a seasoned technology reporter, provides readers with an exclusive insider’s view, backed by extensive research and cooperation from key executives at Facebook.

The narrative begins by highlighting Facebook’s remarkable transformation from a dorm-room experiment to a global phenomenon with 500 million users in just over half a decade. The author emphasizes Facebook’s rapid ascent, positioning it as one of the fastest-growing companies in history, influencing the social lives of both teenagers and adults on a global scale. Kirkpatrick delves into the surprising effects of Facebook’s global spread, illustrating its role in political protests from Colombia to Iran.

At the core of the book is the exploration of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook. Kirkpatrick provides a nuanced portrayal of Zuckerberg’s unwavering commitment to his vision, prioritizing growth over immediate profits and advocating for Facebook’s dominance in internet communication. The author navigates through Facebook’s successes and missteps, presenting a thorough assessment of Zuckerberg’s pivotal role in the company’s ascent.

The book not only unravels the “how” of Facebook’s creation and growth but also addresses the “why” behind its success. Kirkpatrick sheds light on Zuckerberg’s principled business philosophy, emphasizing the founder’s refusal to compromise his vision. The narrative captures Zuckerberg’s insistence on making Facebook a platform that fosters lasting cultural value and strives to shape the world.

Kirkpatrick provides valuable insights into the tech industry dynamics and Facebook’s unique position, distinguishing it from other platforms like Google and Myspace. The author highlights Zuckerberg’s focus on Facebook as a utility, a tool for making news rather than merely tracking it. The book underscores the company’s strategic approaches, including the use of a peer-pressure “surround strategy” and iterative rollouts across college campuses, contributing to its widespread adoption.

While the book primarily covers the period up to 2010, it raises pertinent questions about the future developments of Facebook, particularly in advertising and content access. The author prompts readers to contemplate how Facebook may revolutionize advertising beyond engagement ads and explores potential integrations with other platforms.

Kirkpatrick draws on a wealth of interviews to construct the narrative, acknowledging that the information is largely positive about Facebook. However, the author maintains a critical yet impressed tone, leaving readers with a sense of wonder about the company’s success and its transformative impact on society and human interaction.

Essentially, “The Facebook Effect” offers a captivating and well-researched account of Facebook’s journey, providing readers with a nuanced understanding of its founder, its strategies, and its societal implications. The book is a valuable resource for those interested in the intersection of technology, business, and culture, offering a comprehensive exploration of one of the most influential companies of the digital age.

Who is the author of The Facebook Effect?

David Kirkpatrick is a technology journalist, author, and organizer of technology-oriented conferences. He is the author of The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company that is Connecting the World.

How long is The Facebook Effect?

• Print length: 384 pages

What genre is The Facebook Effect?

Business, Nonfiction, Technology

What are good quotes from The Facebook Effect?

“Facebook also has a fundamental characteristic that has proven key to its appeal in country after country—you only see friends there.”

“This thrilled Zuckerberg, whose primary measure of the service’s success was how often users returned.”

“Mark has the most long-term perspective I’ve ever seen. This guy is uber uber uber on the long-term view.”

“But like the best empire builders, he was both very determined and very skeptical. It’s like [former Intel CEO] Andy Grove says, ‘only the paranoid survive.”

“In Friendster’s wake, a throng of social networking sites blossomed in San Francisco attempting to duplicate its appeal. Each tackled the idea of connecting people in a slightly different way. One was Tickle, a service which, on observing Friendster’s broad-based appeal, altered its own service, which had previously been based on self-administered quizzes and tests. Two of the other new social sites—LinkedIn and Tribe.net—were founded by friends of Abrams.”

“By early 2004 Tickle had become the second-largest social network after Friendster, with two million members actively connected to others and exchanging messages.”

“For users, Facebook Connect offers what could turn into a universal Internet log-in. Over 80,000 websites use it in some fashion, as of February 2010, and 60 million Facebook members are actively employing it.”

“He sent Zuckerberg a letter proposing Viacom would pay $1.5 billion to buy the two-year-old company.”

“Cohler advertised for summer interns, then sometimes told promising applicants when they came for an interview that Thefacebook was only hiring full-timers.”

“Revenues were, according to well-informed sources, more than $550 million for 2009—up from less than $300 million in 2008. That represents a stunning growth rate of almost 100 percent. The same sources say that the company could exceed $1 billion in revenue in 2010.”

“As Facebook kept evolving—and growing faster with every change—the established powers of the technology and media world began paying ever closer attention. This appeared to be the kind of irresistible consumer website every executive had dreamed of owning since the Internet took off in the mid-1990s. Mark Zuckerberg suddenly had a lot of new older, well-dressed friends from Los Angeles and the East Coast. But he didn’t think like the CEO of an established technology or media company. He barely gave a thought to profit and was still ambivalent about advertising. This wasn’t easy for his newfound suitors to understand. One senior executive from a tech company recalls a frustrating visit during that time with Zuckerberg, who seemed uninterested in increasing the company’s revenue. “He didn’t know what he didn’t know,” he says. “But when he opened his mouth he was very direct, very smart, and he was very focused on Facebook as a social tool, to the point of naïveté. It sounded just too altruistic at the time. So I asked him, ‘Is it a social tool as a tactic to get to the next point?’ And he says, ‘No, all I really care about is doing this social tool.’ So I thought, ‘Either this guy is being very strategic and not telling me what his next thing is, or he’s just got his sandbox and he’s playing in it.’ I couldn’t figure it out.”

“in mid-2008 the word Facebook passed sex in frequency as a search term on Google worldwide.”