Book review: The Facebook Effect
This book is a biography of Facebook as a
concept, a platform, and company.
It is an encompassing report of the journey of
the leading social networking powerhouse from a college dorm-room website to an
internet giant, from a site run by college students to an organization managed
by veterans, from being elitist to becoming ubiquitous, from a zero revenue
business to a potential gold mine and from “the facebook” to “facebook”.
David Kirkpatrick is a scrupulous reporter,
never painfully so and gives an insightful report of the vision that went into
the early phases of development with a single minded focus on growth as opposed
to revenue creation and later evolving into a profit generating machine without
compromising the user experience.
It delves into the perplexing viral growth of
the company, which was neither a stroke of good fortune nor a ride on the wave
of enthusiasm. Rather it was the corollary of the shrewd strategy of its
founders, which may have been necessitated by a lack of funds.
Though discussing the controversies surrounding
facebook at different points, it does come across as far too glowing in some
places, which could be a result of Kirkpatrick’s prolonged association with
Mark Zuckerberg, the almost dictatorial CEO of the company. Unlike the title
and the prologue of the book alluded, it is mostly about facebook and the focus
on its effects is minimal which leaves the user wanting.
It could have been more objective but all in all
it is an insightful book and a must read for anyone who enjoyed the movie.
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