David Yelles wrote an article entitled “Mark Zuckerberg Uses the Word “Social” a Lot: Facebook’s grand plan for the future” that was posted in Slate Magazine on Sunday. Regardless of where you stand on Facebook (and there are many debates with heated opinions), take the time to read Yelles’ article. It’s a long piece, coming in at more than 4,000 words, so don’t expect to breeze through it. The comments are also worth reading; they don’t pull any punches.
Yelles isn’t an impartial observer of Facebook or Mark Zuckerberg. He tells us that he’s been interviewing “Zuck” for two years. Yelles seems to bask in the glow of Facebook Deals, a new service from the parent of social networks. He proudly mentions that “Facebook now has more than 500 million active users, is expected to take in at least $1.5bn in revenue this year, mostly from advertising, and becoming a part of ever more daily services on the Web.” (1)
While these facts are impressive for a six-year-0ld company, Yelles doesn’t give much copy space to address some of the significant controversies Facebook has encountered in the last 18 months or so, specifically in the areas of privacy and security. In fact, the word “privacy” only appears six times in the article and “security” doesn’t appear at all. I, for one, wish he had. But don’t fear; the reader comments deal with both of these issues head on.
So, read Yelles’ article and let me know what you think.
Notes
(1) Mark Zuckerberg Uses the Word “Social” a Lot: Facebook’s Grand Plan for the Future, http://www.slate.com/id/2276807/pagenum/all/.