The Facebook Effect: Chapters 1-4

By: Gina Rohn

Facebook: Creating a Revolution… LiterallyOscar Morales a regular everyday citizen of Barranquilla, Colombia was on vacation and frustrated with what was happening in his county. FARC the revolutionary armed forces were known for mistreating and holding 700 Colombian hostages. Fed up with how FARC was treating citizens he wondered what to do. Going to Facebook he searched FARC, because Facebook was known for having a group for everything.

But he found nothing. No groups. No activism. No Outrage.Morales had decided to take matters into his own hands and created a group against FARC. He entitled it “One Million Voices Against FARC-

Un Millon de Voces Contra Las Farc”

Growth of “Un Millon de Voces Contra Las FARC”

• He sent an invite before he went to bed at 3am to his approx. 100 friends.• By 9am 1,500 people had joined• Late afternoon 4,000• Approx. 2 days later 8,000

A “Revolution” was Born

Facebook Event, National March Against FARC was created.

FACEBOOK EVENT- MARCH AGAINST FARC• On February 4th almost exactly a month after the Facebook group

formed the Facebook Event March Against FARC took place. About 10 million people marched against FARC in hundreds of cities in Colombia.• Almost 2 million more marched in cities across the world.• Catching the attention of the Colombian President he was provided

with security and helped coordinate demonstration that was caught national TV coverage.• This helped lead to freeing of hostages, the weakening of FARC, and a

cause that is still alive and running today.

All of this started with an ordinary citizen, in his bedroom,

with his computer, and…

FACEBOOK

Definition: FACEBOOK EFFECT• The Facebook effect happens when the service puts people in touch

with each other, often unexpectedly, about common experience, interest, problem, or cause.• Can occur in a small or large scale- from a group of two or three

friends or a family or millions.• Can be over serious gatherings such as Anti-FARC events, or

organization of a huge pillow fight.

Marc Zuckerbergs View of Facebook• “We’re a utility, we are trying to

increase the efficiency through which people can understand their world. We’re not trying to maximize the time spent on our site. We’re trying to help people have a good experience and get the maximum amount out of that time.”

Chapter OneGetting to know the Creator• Mark Zuckerberg was a Harvard University student who in his

sophomore year in 2003 really began to create Facebook. Known for his huge white board where he drew out his ideas. Lots of his ideas were for services on the internet.• Short, slender, and intense introvert- his classic uniform was baggy

jeans, rubber sandals, and a t-shirt with some clever picture or phrase.

Chapter OnePrevious Internet Ideas at HarvardCourse Smart• Created for fun.• Idea was to help students pick

classes based on who else was taking them.• You could click on a course, see

who was signed up, or click on a person and see what classes they were taking.

Facemash• First look at his “rebellious side”.• Purpose: figure out who was the

hottest on campus.• He invited users to compare two

different faces of the same sex and say who was hotter.

Chapter OneCreation of TheFacbook.com• He went online Jan 2004 and

paid $35 for the web address Thefacebook.com• Ideas were borrowed from

Course Match, Facemash, and a site called Friendster.• This was an attempt to put

together a social site for Harvard that officials kept promising but never created.

Chapter TwoFacebook Begins Growing• What started off as just available at Harvard, grew to all the ivy league

schools, and by the time Spring 2004 semester ended was available at 34 schools. • That summer Marc decided to go out to Palo, California and rent a

house. • Idea was the Palo Alto was a mythical place when all the techs come

from.• Him and his friends would work that summer to expand Facebook.

Chapter TwoAn Interesting Point• What helped Facebook Grow

was the deliberate slow pace of Thefacbook’s growth.• They slowly added new campus,

watching the traffic surge, grow and level off.• If any issues occurred they

would wait before adding new servers.

Chapter TwoLeaving Harvard• During that summer they had planned

to launch to 70 new colleges.• Zuckerberg realized it would be a big

year for Facebook and he wouldn’t return to Harvard. • Several of his friends working on the

project went back to Harvard, while others like Zuckerberg did not.• Almost all friends/co workers

regardless on school situation stayed on with Facebook.

Chapter ThreeSocial Networking and the Internet• The concepts of social networking are not new, and many of the

components of the early Facebook were originally pioneered by others.• Zuckerberg has been accused of stealing the ideas that created

Facebook several times.• Fact is his service is a heir to ideas that have been evolving for forty

years.

Chapter ThreeEngineers of the InternetThe idea of Facebook was envisioned by engineers who laid the groundwork for the Internet. In a 11968 essay titled “The Computer as Communication Device,” the authors asked “what will online interactive communication look like.

The idea crept toward the concept of social networking when it said, “You will not send a letter or a telegram: you will simply identify the people whose files should be linked towards yours”.

CHAPTER THREEExpansion of Social Networking• Social networking has now

expanded to the entire planet.• With the release of Facebook

becoming available to everyone to join, not just those with .edu email addresses it has become the worlds largest social media network.• It is the rare student who does

not routinely check Facebook.

CHAPTER FOURFALL 2004“Look at the world around you. With the slightest push-in just the right

place- it can be tipped.”

In the fall of 2004 TheFacebook was in serious crisis. Membership doubled from 100,000 to 200,000. Good because membership was up, and back because their severs just couldn’t handle it. Service became unsable.

Between this and inner company tension, things were very unstable.

CHAPTER FOURFALL 2004

• Facebook still wasn’t available to all schools.• People were sending letters

candy, flowers, or even showed up begging.• But funds were limited and

servers were a serious problem.

CHAPTER FOURFACBOOK MEETS LINKED IN

2004 people were wondering if all social networking would converge into one big network. Linkedin founder Reid Hoffman didn’t believe so.Regardless Hoffman didn’t want to invest in Facebook believing it would lead to a conflict of interest, but would introduce them to other key players.