Timing couldn’t be more aplomb for this review given the release this week of the highly anticipated film, The Social Network.
David Kirkpatrick details the insanely fascinating birth of Facebook. Originally called TheFaceBook — aptly named after the Harvard Freshman Register, which published images of the incoming Frosh and of course the birth campus of the site — it was actually the second incarnation of a site CEO Mark Zuckerberg developed called Facemash. The first site was a Hot or Not style website for Harvard students to rate who the hottest students on campus were … it was short lived and almost resulted in Zuckerberg being suspended.
The facts alone are fascinating, and even more so when you consider that this book was just published in June 2010 and described Facebook as the second most visited website after Google. But just last week, Facebook usurped Google for most “time spent” online.
The original foursome — which included Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes and Eduardo Saverin — were devoted to the project, consumed with the ideal of changing the world, not with making money. Their dedication was so ingrained, aggressive even, which was marked by the kind of language they used in the midst of their almost continuous, silent (instant message only) programming marathons … terms like “lock down” and “dominate,” referring to their ambitions to take on their competition.
Its no wonder Mark Zuckerberg’s corporate profile describes him as “Founder, Master, and Commander, Enemy of the State.” Facebook is our world, and its impact is constantly being seen politically and locally — and of course, in business.
– Craig Lund, is the President Elect of the American Marketing Association’s Toronto Chapter and can be reached at hello@craiglund.ca
