David Kirkpatrick
Internet & Technology Expert
Author, The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World
Video recording of lecture now available - courtesy of North Country Public Radio
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
7:00pm
Eben Holden
"The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World"
Followed by book signing.
Facebook is about to go public, as an 8-year-old company with about 850 million users in literally every country on the planet. How did a little project started in a dorm room become such a colossus? How did one company get into the position of a global platform for communication that is rapidly becoming as important for many as email? Who is Mark Zuckerberg? Where will his now-giant company go next, in a world where its policies on privacy are continuously challenged even as it continues to grow? What does it mean for society that we have new sort of "social" communication emerging online that makes everyone into a personal broadcaster? We have seen regimes fall in Tunisia and Egypt, and revolts develop around the world, in a phenomenon that has gone considerably beyond Arab Spring. Now even Vladimir Putin of Russia is on the defensive. How will Facebook change politics, marketing, business, personal relations, privacy, and media? These and many other matters will be addressed by David Kirkpatrick, author of the only history of the company, The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World.
For more than 20 years David Kirkpatrick was a writer for Fortune, most recently as the senior editor for internet and technology. He has written numerous cover stories about Microsoft, IBM, Apple, Sun, Intel, and numerous other subjects, features on subjects including Facebook, MySpace, Second Life, the safety of cell phones and Technology in China, plus his weekly "Fast Forward" column. He is regularly ranked one of the world's top technology journalists. His expertise on these subjects led him to pen the definitive book on Facebook, The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World.
The Facebook Effect uncovers how in little more than half a decade, Facebook has gone from a dorm-room novelty to a company with 500 million users. It is one of the fastest growing companies in history, an essential part of the social life not only of teenagers but hundreds of millions of adults worldwide. As Facebook spreads around the globe, it creates surprising effects—even becoming instrumental in political protests from Colombia to Iran. READ MORE
