The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook by Ben Mezrich

ISBN-13: 9780307740984
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication: September 2010
Format: Movie Tie-in, 260 pgs
Source: Personal Library

Frankly speaking, I didn't really take notice of Facebook when it was firstly launched. I mean, I was aware then that people are getting excited about this social networking site; after all it connects people around the world and most importantly, it is free. Out of curiosity, I signed up in June 2007 (Thanks to the new timeline) but I have got to admit I wasn't really active then. It was only last year (or was it the year before?) that I began to check on Facebook more often and I am not ashamed to admit now that I am hooked to it. I love interacting with my friends there, and not to mention making new friends as well either through my blog or through playing games on 'Gardens of Time' and 'Words with Friends', etc.

Although the movie, The Social Network, was released a few years ago, I only get to watch it a few months back as I was very keen to know how Facebook is created and most of all, what kind of challenges did its founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, encounter while creating Facebook.

The book begins with the encounter and friendship between Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg; both who were Harvard undergraduates in 2003. Both of them have the intelligence and while Eduardo is more business minded, Mark, on the other hand, has the insight of anything related to computer science and Information Technology. However they have one thing in common and that is they are both socially awkward.

Being the more outgoing one, Eduardo joins the university's club and hope that this would help him to gain popularity. Mark has a different agenda though, and his thought is to bring social networking to another level by creating an online site. Not deterred by his experience of hacking into the university's computer system and crashing the servers and almost got him expelled, this shows that there is a certain amount of attraction and traffic getting it online.

Aside from learning the founding of Facebook, what made this an entertaining and a compelling read is the journey Mark faced while he built Facebook. First, there is the lawsuit filed by fellow Harvard students, the Winklevoss' twins, who stated that Mark had mislead them into believing he would help them to build a social network within the campus, right down to the differences he and Eduardo faced while building Facebook.

Today, Facebook has millions of members and through the site it helps people to connect and build social network around the world. I may not be the first among all to join Facebook when it was first launched, but I am glad I joined since this not only allows me to catch up with my friends but also giving me the opportunity to know new friends as well.