Simon & Schuster Adult

David Kirkpatrick delves into "the Facebook effect" in his new book

To over 500 million people, Facebook is the new pastime, where we poke, browse through pictures and write on walls, rather than call or talk in person. Teenage girls are more likely to check their news feed before they’ve even had their morning Wheaties. So how did this college handbook develop into a website and eventually a multimillion dollar company, which counts President Obama, Sarah Palin and Starbucks as active users? David Kirkpatrick documents the rise of the website’s founder, Harvard alum Mark Zuckerberg, in his new book, The Facebook Effect. From his days as a college student to his first deal of $10 million and takeover of the Internet, Zuckerberg has made his mark in technology and history. But what does it say about humanity, when we post intimate, personal details all over the Internet? What about the slew of complaints about Facebook’s privacy policy? We freak out over identity theft, but we list our home addresses, phone numbers, parents’ and pets’ names without abandon in our “About Me” section. Divorce lawyers are now turning to Facebook for incriminating evidence, such as photos or wall-to-walls with your mistress. How did this college boy turn a group project into a six degrees of separation, internet phenomenon?

Guest:

David Kirkpatrick, former senior editor of internet and technology at Fortune; created Fortune’s Brainstorm conference series and current member of the Council on Foreign Relations; author of The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World