The Facebook Effect

"The Facebook Effect" by David Kirkpatrick is shortlisted for the sixth annual Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award. This year's judges decided on six books which, in their opinion, provided 'the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues.' The overall winner of the 2010 Book Award will be announced on October 27 at an Award Dinner in New York, at which Vartan Gregorian, President, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, will be the keynote speaker.

Lionel Barber, Editor of the Financial Times comments: "This year's short-list combines compelling narrative with trenchant analysis of the big questions facing the business and financial world, two years on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers. (...) The short-list also includes an account of the stunning rise of Facebook (...)."

"The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World" is reflecting the unique success of the social network. More than 500 million people have accounts, and if the growth rate continues, by 2013 every Internet user worldwide will have his or her own page. And no one's had more access to the inner workings of the phenomenon than DLD friend David. Written with the full cooperation of founder Mark Zuckerberg, the book follows the company from its genesis in a Harvard dorm room through its successes over Friendster and MySpace, the expansion of the user base, and Mark's refusal to sell. The author is at his best discussing the social implications of the site, from the changing notions of privacy to why and how people use Facebook - increasingly it's to come together around a common interest or cause (the eponymous Facebook Effect).

For more information please watch David on the DLD 2010 "Data & Identity" panel with Mike Schroepfer, Facebook's Vice President of Engineering, here, and find David and Mark together on stage at DLD 2009 below.