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Facebook: The Inside Story
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About This Book
He has had unprecedented access to Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg for three years. And now renowned tech writer Steven Levy delivers the definitive history of one of America's most powerful and controversial companies: Facebook. In his sophomore year of college, Mark Zuckerberg created a simple website to serve as a campus social network. The site caught on like wildfire, and soon students nationwide were on Facebook. Today, Facebook is nearly unrecognizable from Zuckerberg's first, modest iteration. It has grown into a tech giant, the largest social media platform and one of the most gargantuan companies in the world, with a valuation of more than $576 billion and almost 3 billion users, including those on its fully owned subsidiaries, Instagram and WhatsApp. There is no denying the power and omnipresence of Facebook in American daily life. And in light of recent controversies surrounding election-influencing "fake news" accounts, the handling of its users' personal data, and growing discontent with the actions of its founder and CEO, never has the company been more central to the national conversation. Based on hundreds of interviews inside and outside the company, Levy's sweeping narrative digs deep into the whole story of the company that has changed the world and reaped the consequences.
Reviews
"Given unfettered access to Zuckerberg and the company during the last three years, Levy is able to illustrate how the company developed under the influence of Zuckerberg's acknowledged hypercompetitiveness ..."
"Nearly two-thirds of the book passes before we get to the election, the part of Facebook's history that the company hasn't already spilled its guts on ..."
"Levy had extensive access to Facebook employees and paints a revealing and highly critical portrait of the company as it wrangled with charges that it violated users' privacy by sharing their data with advertisers and political operatives, and served as a vector for manipulative fake news, pro-Trump Russian propaganda, and hate speech."
"reflects the reputational swan-dive of its subject."
"throughout, Levy regularly describes Zuckerberg's awkward and unnerving silences during interviews and meetings—which can be unsettling given that his self-professed goal is to connect people ..."
"Although the book raises questions about Facebook's serial privacy violations and handling of foreign election interference on its site, sections addressing those issues often feel pro forma or tacked on."
"Though the author's access to these two executives is touted as the book's selling point, Levy relates events in a personable but detached tone that steers clear of hagiography, critique, or even the inside scoop ..."
"Levy describes his interests and his signature conversational tic...But if Facebook is Mark Zuckerberg, what does Mark Zuckerberg stand for?"
"For all his criticisms, the author, who enjoyed free access to Zuckerberg, is less dismissive of Facebook and its intentions than Roger McNamee, whose book Zucked (2019) condemns the company's demonstrated disregard for its users' rights ..."
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