In order to earn extra credit points, I attended a lecture given by David Kirkpatrick called “Ten Lessons From Facebook,” part of the Roy H. Park Distinguished Lecutre Series. David Kirkpatrick is a technology journalist and author of the novel, The Facebook Effect.
Kirkpatrick claims that the news feed is the most unique aspect of Facebook. When the news feed was launched, 10% of users protested arguing that it was a massive privacy invasion. The launch only led to MORE usage of Facebook!
Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg, a computer science/psychology major at Harvard. Kirkpatrick stated in his lecture that the avant garde of social networking sites is technologists, people just like Zuckerberg. I think that Mark’s double major is extremely important to the success of the site. From computer science, he learned the skills to program and design the site. From psychology, he learned the “how” behind maiking the site appeal to users’ emotions and needs. His double major is extremely indicative of the goals of the site.
The first lesson from Facebook is it doesn’t matter how young you are. This is particularly scary to me because as a user of Facebook, I don’t like or approve of how young some of the friend requests I receive are. I think there should be an age limit; some middle schoolers gain access to the site by lying and making a high school page. On the other hand, this is extremely helpful for the older generation to connect with high school and college classmates. I know that since my mom joined the site last year, she loves getting friend requests from people she had forgotten about.
The second lesson from Facebook is the entire world can change at once. The #2 country on Facebook is Indonesia. This statistic demonstrated to me just how global not only Facebook is, but also the entire Internet itself is. Social networking practices that I perceived to be existing only in America are prevalent in countries all around the globe. This lesson taught me how ignorant I was and opened my eyes to a clear demonstration of globalization.
The third lesson from Facebook is that empowered people are the engine of change. Today, there are 750 million active users on the site. Facebook has evolved to be a platform for empowerment of its users. Users now can generate more influence than ever before with Facebook Groups. One is able to utilize Facebook to state issues online, through the newsfeed. The newsfeed acts as the receiver of broadcast. Through the “Like” and “Comment” tools, the news continues to be re-broadcasted. The leaders of revolutions today choose Twitter, since there is no intermediate. I never realized how commenting and liking a post brought that post back up to the news feed, making users read it for a second time or bringing it to the attention of other users. To me, Facebook seems much more efficient and user-friendly than even the radio, in regard to broadcasts. It’s almost as if Facebook, not the Internet, is shaping other forms of media.
The fourth lesson from Facebook is that people want to communicate MORE! Half of users are accessing Facebook from their mobile devices. The act of simply “being online” is having an increasing relevance in today’s world. My friends and I are constantly using our smart phones to gain access to social networking sites. I just got a new phone, the HTC Evo, and on it came an application called “Peep.” Peep is HTC’s application for Twitter. The fact that this application came programmed with the phone without me having to download it shows just how many people are using Facebook and Twitter on their mobile phones. Facebook is unique because it requires people to use their real names. It is the world’s first universal directory. It is an incredible research tool for journalists. The real name creates a barrier between Facebook and Myspace, personally. Kirkpatrick referenced that Facebook might form a future deal with Skype in the future. This merge would absolutely blow my mind. What the two of these sites could do together would be crazy.
The fifth lesson from Facebook is that it is hard to hide. The world today is becoming much more transparent, claims Kirkpatrick. It is extremely easy to find out more stuff about more people. The key word here is “more.” With Facebook, a lot of people do not properly set their privacy settings, leaving their personal page open to the world. “Stalking” people you do not know by clicking from profile to profile is extremely easy. The most open part of Facebook I have found is photo albums. Users forget to change the settings to “friends and networks only” and instead any user can look at their snapshots. I personally believe that this should be a part of Facebook that people need to be educated about.
The sixth lesson is don’t focus on the money. Zuckerberg turned down four billion dollars when someone offered to buy Facebook from him. Instead of the money, he is trying to change the world. This is extremely admirable for a college aged boy. A lot of people today are caught up about monetary value when they should be focusing on more wholesome ideals.
The seventh lesson from Facebook is that the long term matters. Zuckerberg possessed such a strong sense of what he wanted. Knowing what you believe and sticking with it is rare in today’s society. It’s hard to stay strong when there are outside influences that are swaying you to alter your goals. My advice goes along with what Kirkpatrick was arguing in his lecture – Dare to be different.
The eighth lesson from Facebook is that the news is not what you thought. Social networking sites are able to broadcast news in a new light, that is different from TV and radio sources. Facebook creates “news” from ordinary users, not just professional journalists and reporters. I feel as though a brand new era of “news” has arrived – photo albums of trips and status updates are now considered “news” updates on the web.
The ninth lesson from Facebook is that platforms are the most important technologies. For the Facebook platform, you don’t even have to enter the site in order to use it. Facebook is watching what we do and building an infrastructure for the whole Internet, claims Kirkpatrick. I never thought about how a lot of times, you don’t need to log in to Facebook in order to gain access to pages. This can be helpful to businesses and organizations.
The tenth and last lesson from Facebook is that innovation is how companies win. Kirkpatrick argues that the most innovative are large-scale businesses. Mark Zuckerberg took a chance when he invented Facebook. He took an innovative approach and look where it landed him – the world’s fastest, youngest billionaire. This all happened because he had a brilliant idea to connect people globally and ran with it. Innovation that is actually put into action is what sets companies apart.
David Kirkpatrick’s “Ten Lessons From Facebook” allowed me to view Facebook in an entirely new light. I realized it is much more than a social networking site for me and my friends; Facebook is a global bridge whose influence will only continue to grow. Thanks Mark Zuckerberg, you’re a genius.
emilygraybeal 