The Facebook Overlord

Radar had a link to an incredible and amazingly interesting article in 02138 called Poking Facebook about Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook god, and the ongoing lawsuit filed by the founders of ConnectU (along with documents from the trial like Zuckerberg's Harvard app and online journal). And while I want them to win if that's justice, I also don't want Facebook to be destroyed because it.is.my.crack. So I don't know what I want the outcome of that case to be.

What I do know is that I didn't know anything about Zuckerberg until reading this article, which is kinda strange to think about especially considering his "mission to connect the world" or whatever. And now that I've read it a few conclusions have come to mind (and other snap judgments have been made, perhaps due to subtle jealousy or due to the fact I see the sun sometimes.) Here are some things I've learned:

• He's a lot smaller than I suspected: I don't know what I expected, or even if I had an expectation about it but...I guess it's liek one of those things where someone so big or "important to your world" you expect to be more imposing but the Zuckerberg is only 5'8 and weighs 150. I'd tower over him in heels.
• I've never seen a picture of him not in this outfit: "Decked out in his geek uniform of jeans, Adidas sandals, a T-shirt, and a North Face fleece"
• He reminds me of one of friends: "He once handed out business cards that read: I’m CEO … bitch.'" In fact he reminds me of 2/3rds of my guy friends based on that.
• He spent his Tuesdays the same way I spent most of mine in college: (from his journal) "I'm a little intoxicated, not gonna lie. So what if it's not even 10 p.m. and it's a Tuesday night?" I see nothing wrong with it Mark nothing at all; it almost makes you a member of "Tuesday Night Drinking Club"
• My "slowness" to adopt Facebook was severely overestimated: Zuckerberg unveiled Facebook on February 4th, 2004. It must've spread to Duke by the end of that semester and I signed up for it around MLK Day 2005, when I thought I was the last person to have done so.
• The twins suing him look like prep Neanderthals: Except lacking the red hair.
  
• He was an incredible nerd: "Zuckerberg, the son of a dentist and a psychiatrist, showed an early interest in computer programming. Just before sixth grade, armed with his first desktop PC and the book C++ for Dummies, he began teaching himself how to code. At first, he struggled. “It was too hard for me, so I quit,” he said in court documents. “I guess, like, a little while after that, I started learning other [computer] languages and just making random things … I’d make games for myself that I thought were fun, just like dorky things.” In ninth grade, Zuckerberg made a computerized version of Risk, the popular board game. His version was set during the Roman Empire, a period of history that has long fascinated him; he can read and write Latin and Greek, and considered concentrating in classics at Harvard. After his junior year in high school, he attended Harvard Summer School for a three-month intensive course in ancient Greek.
• He's an AEPi with an Asian fetish (how inspired...and Orientalist): He rushed Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish fraternity. According to the Boston Globe, he declared an affinity for Asian women.
  
• He's a bit of an asshole: Then a sophomore computer science concentrator, he had recently gained campus notoriety by creating a website called “facemash” that flashed photos of two Harvard students side-by-side and asked users to click on the one they considered more attractive. To get the photos, Zuckerberg had hacked into school servers and copied pictures from house directories, informally known as facebooks. He suspected from the start that his program would land him in trouble. “Perhaps Harvard will squelch it for legal reasons without realizing its value as a venture that could possibly be expanded to other schools (maybe even ones with good-looking people ... ),” Zuckerberg wrote in his online journal. “But one thing is certain, and it’s that I’m a jerk for making this site. Oh well. Someone had to do it eventually ... ”
• He probably is a thief and a horrible person: On or about November 12, according to the plaintiffs, Zuckerberg began work. Ten days later, he e-mailed Gao and Narendra to tell them that the site was almost ready. “I have most of the coding done, and I think that once I get the graphics we’ll be able to launch this thing,” Zuckerberg e-mailed. But for the next two months, the plaintiffs say, Zuckerberg made himself scarce. He postponed meetings, was slow to return calls and e-mails, and allegedly refused to let the team see his work. He offered a variety of explanations: His cell phone was muted, his computer science problem sets were taking up too much time, he forgot to bring his laptop charger home for Thanksgiving and his computer died. As the Harvard Connection launch date was pushed back week after week, the plaintiffs grew increasingly anxious. “We spent a lot of our time trying to get Mark to sort of follow up with us,” Narendra said. "Cameron sent him emails … We would, you know, call him and ask him, ‘Hey, what’s the latest on the website?’… He would say, ‘… I should have something done in the next couple weeks.’” In mid-December, Narendra and the Winklevosses finally met with Zuckerberg in his dorm room. Though nothing was ever put down on paper—an oversight that would weaken their subsequent case— they claim that they again promised Zuckerberg a fair share of any future revenue. Zuckerberg allegedly confirmed his interest and assured them that the site was almost complete. On the whiteboard in his room, Cameron says, Zuckerberg had scrawled multiple lines of code under the heading “Harvard Connection.” This would be the only time the plaintiffs saw any of his work. On January 14, 2004, the Harvard Connection team went to talk to Zuckerberg once more; Zuckerberg informed them that he was involved with another project. He did not elaborate, and the two sides did not substantively speak again. On February 4, Zuckerberg unveiled Facebook. Aaron Greenspan, another Harvard student, who, six months before Facebook, had created a Harvard social network called houseSYSTEM. It featured a “Universal Face Book” that allowed students to upload photos and personal information. Zuckerberg, whom Greenspan had told about the site early on, was a user, and Greenspan has since accused him of poaching ideas, in particular features that allowed members to create event reminders, access course schedules, and buy and sell textbooks.“I don’t know if Mark copied things intentionally or it’s just the most amazing coincidence of all time, but I know he’s dishonest,” Greenspan says. “I’ve seen him lie.”
• I don't care who gives me my fix as long as I get it: As soon as I'm done with this and can sneak some more time I'm going on Facebook to check Scrabulous.
  

In conclusion, though I think I hate Zuckerberg as a person (based solely on broad outlines of course, and not personally) I [don't know how to finish this sentence or post] still thoroughly enjoy "his" site.

fizzle

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