Some interesting points Mark Zuckerberg made in his keynote speech:
- Facebook’s goal is to help people communicate more effectively and to extend relationships beyond face to face
- The best way to make a site is from the bottom up, from the users and not necessarily from the “creators”
- Facebook is launching in France tonight
- The main goal of Beacon was to build a platform that allowed users to take actions outside of Facebook and share that with their friends on Facebook. This is an effective ad system because it shows you habits of your friends and it’s not a company trying to sell you something. However, Beacon bombed mainly because only few used it and those that did saw it as a concern for privacy. They didn’t necessarily want to share their non-Facebook buying habits.
- Mark mentioned that it’s best to give people control over their information (cell phone numbers, addresses, etc.). He said that all mistakes they’ve made at Facebook have stemmed from not giving people enough control.
- They are in the process of changing some aspects about current applications on Facebook. Mark said that they really haven’t touched a lot on making music a part of their site because users take care of that with applications. While he’s always conversing with several different companies regarding music, they haven’t reached any deals or anything (yet).
- Mark is now taking a more active role as CEO and not as much in product management. He says this is a good fit for him because he said that the CEO sets the tone of the organization.
- Facebook considers itself a technology company, not a media company. Every one of its management positions have a technological background. They want to enable other people to make companies.
Here’s a video I took of the interview. Take from it what you will. I’m sorry for the sub-par video-taping skills!
Permalink
Nice work, Jon. I think you caught lots of the highlights…and a few low ones.
Permalink
I agree with the statement about all the mistakes Facebook has made stems from not giving people enough control. Facebook is a social networking giant, so more control to users should be given.
I like the fact that Mark will continue to modify Facebook. It seems that the companies who produce the applications are the ones who have been setting the tone for Facebook. It has been a while since I have seen something that was generally facebook’s creation like “poking.”
With that being said, it is apparent that Facebook is a technology company and not a media company. The cool thing I like about Facebook is that it is a social network that can be manipulated in so many ways to fit the consumer or companies ideals for whatever use they want. I think that is what Mark means by giving more control to us.
Permalink
Jon,
I just wanted to say that the video you shot the amount of hits it got on you tube are outstanding. I wanted to congratulate you, and say thats really F’ing cool.
I think some of the applicable things we learned in Cindy’s class will be with us for a very long time. and who knows how many hits this clip will get with the long tail. I will go on forever, you caught a moment in history – congratulations!
Permalink
Facebook is genius in that the minds behind the screen recognized that people want control over their content. I think that they do a good job with offering what people want while giving the opportunity to add limitations. Jon mentioned how facebook wants to “enable other people to make companies”, I may not be a member, but I like this about the company. It’s not just about them making money; I think that they have a genuine concern for their members. What’s also great about facebook is that they have been around for a while now and they are continuing to grow stronger; finally someone is doing something for the consumer.
As far as the interview…it was horrible! However, I can’t say that she was a complete idiot because she actually achieved what I think she came to do. She was smart enough to recognize an opportunity to get her name out there and have people talk about her (good or bad). If you watch reality TV you can see that doing crazy things can sometimes lead to bigger and better things.
Permalink
My thoughts exactly, Chondra. Regarding Sarah Lacy, I was instantly appalled that this was going to be some sort of launching platform for her. Any attention is better than no attention, even if it is negative, just as you said.