Facebook Effect Part 2

This second part of the book is exciting because it charts the way facebook becomes a "real" company. Through its rapid growth, it needed rapid infusions of major money. I find it incredible that so many people saw the potential of the idea that Zuckerberg had for them to offer to give young men control of millions of dollars. It has obviously paid off in spades and those who had the chance to invest early and didn't are kicking themselves throughly because of their lost millions. But who knew? The idea wasn't a new idea. Nor was it one that their team had any experience with. Nor did they have a track record of any sort that would inspire confidence or trust with massive amounts of money. But the confidence that Zuckerberg had in himself showed potential investors that he was the one that they were banking on. Without his somewhat geeky way of explaining, when he felt like it, Accel would have never bankrolled them to the extent they did. It is inspiring to see that there are success stories  involving kids and their ideas that can happen even when the sharks get involved.

But none of it would have happened without the leadership of Zuckerberg. He saw past the naysayers and followed his vision of what facebook could be in order to make it a success. Even with opposition from within his own circle, he continued to expand facebook to fit his vision. When he added the ability to add photographs to profiles, he expanded the use of facebook to be part of the culture of America. He recognized the social importance of seeing yourself, and the relationships that that represented way before anyone did. His definition for this phenomenon is  "..."social graph," meaning the web of relationships articulated inside Facebook as the result of users connecting with their friends."(157) This is so true. People want to share and want their friends to share as well. And share they do. Pictures are tagged, sometimes minutes after they have been posted. In fact, people who don't want their social lives out there are often caught unaware that pictures have been taken until they have been made public. This can be positive but also has negative effects. I personally know people who have been tagged in photos of them in compromising situations that have been the talk of the office, because they unwittingly let their boss be their "friend". Not smart for most jobs, especially ones in education. I know we have talked in class about having two profiles, one for partying and one for professional reasons, but sometimes they mix and the results can be ugly. Nothing has happen to these people I know, but it sure can make for an awkward conversation around the boss's office. So the lesson that facebook users must take away is that it is good to share but don't share everything. You never know who looking and making judgments based on a silly moment with your friends.