The Story Behind Facebook--A Book Review
Joy Close, Staff Writer
The Accidental Billion
aires, written by best-selling
author Ben Mezrich, is about the
process of how Facebook was cre
ated. One might expect to read
about the technical aspects and
efforts that went into the creation
of what is now the most popu
lar social networking site on the
web, but instead this novel is a
fast paced drama built around the
subtitle to the novel: “sex, money,
genius, and betrayal.”
The novel starts at Harvard
with the friendship of Facebook’s
two creators, Eduardo Saverin
and Mark Zuckerberg. The two
young men build a strong friend
ship supported by the many things
they have in common: they are
both outsiders in a school of preps
and long-time legacies, they are
both mathematically brilliant, and
they are both geeky and awkward
with women. At the beginning, the
plan was to help them have more
success with women by creating a
ratable database of all the female
students on campus. As part of
this plan the computer genius,
Zuckerberg, hacks into Harvard’s
NATiaX*l B£$?SELIER
computer sys
tems, an action
that causes
the univer
sity’s servers to
crash. 'Through
this failure,
however, the
framework for
the success of
Facebook is
created, and
through the
business savvy
mind of Saver
in, the popular
ity of Facebook
skyrockets
quickly. Ironically, it is the social
networking site designed to draw
people together that pushes these
two friends apart.
Mezrich’s tone through
out this engaging novel is real and
relatable. He spins his story like a
master, keeping the cold facts while
placing them in a warm, fiction-like
narrative. He makes his charac
ters jump off the page, not only by
tactfully exploiting their quirks, but
also by impressing portraying for
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Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg
Photo credit: Paul Sakuma
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tures/20io/7/9/i27869634o8i3/Mark-Zuckerberg-Facebook-oo6.jpg
his readers how relatable these two
men and their conflict are to them.
'The movie The Social Network, based
on this popular novel, comes out in
theaters October i, 2010.
Disclaimer: Review copies of the novel
were provided by its publisher, Anchor
Books.
Ask Gigi
Dear Gigi,
-Ever since school started, my car has been completely infested with ants! Fpark in
the lot behind the freshmen dorms, and I think that’s where the problem started.
My upperclassmen friends on campus, who have better parking spots, say that
they don't have this issue. It’s gotten to the point where I am losing friends be
cause no one ^vants to ride in my car with me and the nasty little pests! How do I
get rid of the little buggers?
Sincerely,
Creeped and Crawled Out
Dear Creeped and Crawled Out,
Sounds like you're feeling a little antsy about a common campus complaint! I
think the underclassmen vehicular ant infestation is about as famous as the scaiy',
squirrels, the geese guano, and corn .shuckin’ at Cornhuskin, so much so that it’s ^
almost another Meredith rite of passage. But if you don’t want to “just experience '
it!” this time. 111 let you in on a few e.xtennination secrets. First, remove all food
and drink waste from your floorboard. Then spend an afternoon deep cleaning
your car: kill those angr\- little ants by vacuuming and washing all interior sur- T
faces, including the trunk. .After the in.side of your car is thoroughly washed and , i
dried, spray some Raid (but make sure you take this last step ONLY if you don’t
have to drive arnwhere for awhile!) Raid is not only an emergency insecticide but •;
al.so a measure to prevent fresh infestations. Once you’re finally officially ant-free/
try to park as far away from the bushes as possible. Tire best spots in The Pit are
the ones farther away from the dirt and vegetation that surround the dorms. In t
short, walking a feiv extra steps each day will save you a lot of future antarchy!
Yours truly,
, f^igi
When Love is Madness
Aislinn Murphy, Staff Writer
VMiaL is a walk on Meredith campus without hearing women vent about
their relationships with their partners, families and friends? Let’s admit it; all of>
us .spend some part of bur days worrying about a relationship. It helps to get those
feelings out of our head§,|(nd into someone else’s. Whether we are venting about a
boyfriend- or girlfriend - on^he way to class with our friends, yelling at our parents
to support our relationships, with our love partners, or talking to a partner about
nceding'to'spend more time with our friends; we arealways needing advice on our
relationships. ,
_' • In each issue of this newspaper, I will write a column on the ®nmon
factors that link all types of relationships. Because let’s face it, they all deal with
the,§ame basic issues no matter what type of relationship it is. In order to really
Ihonvj^ thd truth, though, I want to interview you. Yes you, the reader. If you want
to, write rift anything anonymously, that is welcome as well. I want you to tell me
the triith/no matter hoWgoiyrthe details, no matter how hard it is to say. We all
learn fromprie another, and I’m just making the process easier by sharing every
day stories With you. So prepare some'bf your best stories, because yoU-lnay be the
next to get interviewed. And remertiber ladies' “When love is riot madness, it is
not ldVe.”fPedro Calderon de la Barca) ;
WriteintoAislinnatherald@email.meredith.edu