No More Private Parts

Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, we all live in glass houses. At least you do if you’re one of the 500 million users of Facebook, a social networking site he founded that makes our private lives public. But what began as an interactive college yearbook has become a phenomenon where many...

By Amanda McCorquodale

July 1, 2010

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Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, we all live in glass houses. At least you do if you’re one of the 500 million users of Facebook, a social networking site he founded that makes our private lives public. But what began as an interactive college yearbook has become a phenomenon where many of the world’s battles are fought and won. Facebook has been used to organize rallies against Colombia’s FARC, expose the murderer of a woman at an Iranian protest, and help Barack Obama get elected. We might overlook all of those points as we stalk our exes, trade sheep, and weigh the consequences of a cutthroat defriending campaign. But David Kirkpatrick, a former technology editor for Fortune, has put the site under a magnifying glass in The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World. For the most part, the author is in awe of Facebook and its CEO — a troublesome stance considering Zuckerberg not only authorized this exhaustive investigation but also suggested that Kirkpatrick write the book. So instead of spending an hour untagging yourself from incriminating photos this Friday, go listen to Kirkpatrick discuss The Facebook Effect at Books & Books.
Fri., July 9, 8 p.m., 2010

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