The Facebook Effect Part 1

David Kirkpatrick's the Facebook Effect, is a book I really had been looking forward to reading. I have been a pretty avid facebook user since 2007 when I came to college. For me, it's a great connecting tool, and makes things so much easier in terms of event planning and catching up with old friends. The first chapter in the book talks about an event that I had never even heard of. But basically, it is about a Colombian man who went on facebook and created a group against the FARC, and within days became a world wide common thread. People all over the world were joining this protest group, and soon he organized the biggest protest ever held. When I first started reading the book, I didn't understand what this little story could have to do with facebook, but as I read I was astounded. It is crazy to me how technology can connect so many people now, all fighting for a similar cause. It is almost unbelievable, and it is crazy to think that just 20 years ago a protest like this, would have been nearly impossible. Facebook really has changed the world. It mentions in this book that the author found out about some news event through a facebook status. This happens to me all the time. Facebook is the first place I get big information, and after I see a hint of something in someone's status I then start googling to find out what this is all about. But before facebook, people actually went on news sites more frequently to find out what was going on in the world. 

The actual creation story about facebook was very interesting in itself. I went to see the Social Network when it came out in theaters, and was not surprised to find that some of what they portrayed in the movie was not true. For example, in the movie, Mark Zuckerberg was not in the fraternity as Eduardo Saverin but in real life they were fraternity brothers. Also Dustin Moskovitz was not portrayed as such a big player in the movie as he really was. Regardless, reading this section about the creation was very intriguing. Mark's main goal was to connect people in a way that was different than before. Of course people had instant messenger to communicate, but it was not everyone craved. Facebook allowed for such a great social connection, through relationship statuses, pictures, statuses, events and even one of Mark's first creations a Coursematcher. I thought it was interesting when they talked about how the creators weren't sure how far they wanted it to spread, because at first it was only Ivy League prestigious schools that were given access. I don't think they knew how big this would eventually become, because if they had they probably would have let everyone have access immediately. I think they thought it would stay a relatively small thing that would only be used for exclusive colleges. The thing I find so interesting is that Facebook was not the first social networking site, but yet is the one that taken over our society. Friendster was too slow, and myspace had too many fakes on it, but Facebook seems to have landed it just right.

The Facebook Effect that Kirkpatrick talks about happens when, "The service puts people in touch with each other, often unexpectedly, about a common experience, interest, problem or cause." pg 7 It also talks about how on facebook everyone can be an "Editor, a content creator, a producer and a distributor." pg 9 and that reminds me a lot of the book on Wikipedia. This new technology that we are using gives us such power. I know that I can go on my facebook right now and create whatever message I'd like and either post it as my status, send it in a message to all my friends or even put it in a note for anyone to read. This power is exciting for people, and it can lead to good things. For example, the past two years here at college, I have organized a group of students from Mason Gross to go caroling at Robert Wood Johnson's hospital. Facebook made it so much easier to connect with these students, and plan out when we would meet to rehearse, and how we would get there. This connection we have is really amazing and I think it is something that David Kirkpatrick values. I am excited to keep reading this book because unlike some of the other reads, David seems to be accepting of this technology we have been given.