David Kirkpatrick (1)

Like watching an episode of Silicon Valley (paying graffiti artist for a mural, the Thiel/Gregory character, being rude to VC on purpose).
As a product manager, some decision process and design events are nice learning from the inside. After all Facebook is a very widely used product.
Also worth noting is the short history of all social networks, putting things in perspective.
Warning: the author seems very very close to the Facebook inner circle. Everything has to be complemented with other show more books/sources.
On the audio version Kirkpatrick is even interviewed by Facebook marketing manager and Zuckerberg sister on how wonderful his book is and how Facebook is truly fantastic.
A bit too much :)
Still learned a lot, well written and did not want to stop, so 4 stars :) show less

The author certainly makes valid points. However, reading this now, 9 years after the book was published, it is clear that he could not foresee the critical extent and the dangerous reach of the Facebook Effect, and how it would become a double-edged sword that causes as much harm as it does good.

This is a riveting account of the meteoric rise of Mark Zuckerberg's "baby" - from TheFacebook on the Harvard University campus to Facebook, the $100+ billion company. Mr. Kirkpatrick does an excellent job of weaving the highlights and details into a fast-paced and interesting story. I only wish it hadn't ended in 2010, two years before the initial public offering. An amazing story told well.

At the start the book seemed duplicative of many other accounts of the Facebook founding that I've read, and I considered not finishing. I'm happy that I did. The by-now iconic history morphs into thoughtful and intricate musings on online transparency, globalization, the potential effects on governments, organized groups, commercial entities and media of Facebook and other social media. I am impressed with Zuckerberg's vision, and how despite his of naivety and at times immaturity, he has show more shifted the paradigm of friendships and interactions. Although it drags at times, and is becoming a bit dated, I learned a lot about this service that I have been using since 2008. More importantly (to me), I learn a good bit about monetization of the Internet and the philosophy of social networks. Recommended. show less