“For the first time ever in a single day we had 500 million people use Facebook” – Mark Zuckerberg

For those who focus on the debate between Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter are missing the true story. Today at Facebook’s f8 developer conference we were reminded about what the story really is…you and me. No, it’s not about features, capabilities, or the number of users. We were reminded about the power of something much more important, our experiences, relationships, the content we create and share and how each paint a picture of who we are as individuals.

Today Facebook introduced features for its users and developers alike that position Facebook not as a social network, but instead as a platform for storytelling and meaningful engagement. How is this different than the profile you’ve come to know over the years? The team at Facebook explains…

Back in the early days of Facebook, your profile was pretty basic – just your name, a photo, where you went to school…stuff you’d cover in the first five minutes you met someone. Over time, your profile evolved to better reflect how you actually communicate with your friends. The way your profile works today, 99% of the stories you share vanish. The only way to find the posts that matter is to click “Older Posts” at the bottom of the page. Again. And again. With timeline, now you have a home for all the great stories you’ve already shared. They don’t just vanish as you add new stuff.

Timeline is a new kind of profile, one that lets people tell their story in a visually-rich and artistic fashion. In addition to aesthetics, Timeline is essentially a social home page for all that moves you, from media to experiences to people. The biggest difference you’ll notice is presentation. Starting with the substantial image that you choose to depict your persona, the new format essentially turns your profile into a Flipboard-esque (magazine) pictorial rich with updates, content, and connections…all designed to tell your story, your way. Don’t be confused by the name however, Timeline is much more than that, it’s essentially a storyboard for your digital and real life as told by what you share and what others share with you.

“Timeline is the story of your life,” said Mark Zuckerberg “All your stories, all your apps, express who you are.”

And according to Chris Cox, Facebook’s VP of Product, “Facebook is a platform for human storytelling.”

As with any cover, it’s up to you to give it a title, to set the stage for what your friends, family, peers, and viewers will experience.

As the curator of your life’s experiences, you choose what appears in the timeline regardless of date to let your story unfold as you see and feel and in turn what you want others to see and feel.

As my colleague Charlene Li observed, “Facebook Timeline reveals the future of sharing.”

Opening Up the Open Graph

Content, updates, friends and activities only tell a part of your story in the new Facebook Timeline.  Apps will also help add color to your world based on what you use and how you use them. Prior to the event, rumor had it that Facebook would introduce new buttons such as “Watched,” “Read,” and “Listened.” Instead, we would learn that Facebook believes that buttons are are a thing of the past. At f8, Facebook announced that it is giving apps a voice, your voice, to contribute contextual activity to the Timeline automatically through action verbs. Yes, you read that right. Facebook apps will populate your storybook, based on the permissions you set of course, further pushing (or inspiring…you choose) to live more and more in public. Smart apps are another product of the company’s news machine at f8 and are the latest incarnation of Facebook’s Open Graph development platform.

Why? Why would you, in your right mind, let apps tell everyone what you’re reading, listening to, watching, or doing? Because that’s what at the core of what makes social networking so special…it’s all about YOU. Facebook is becoming the center to your EGOsystem, helping you put the “me” in social media in all you do while making it irresistible to those who follow you or visit your profile. Mark Zuckerberg isn’t trying to transform users into digital exhibitionists, but he is giving everyone the tools and platform to better tell their story.  We are social creatures after all and we are becoming human media networks with each of us building an audience with an audiences of audiences. As another colleague from Altimeter Susan Etlinger shared, “Timeline turns everyone into a curator, a media property and, at its most basic level, an activity stream.”

Facebook claims that the algorithm powering these Open Graph will not overwhelm friends but instead unlock “frictionless experiences,” “real-time serendipity” and the ability to help developers and brands “find patterns.”

For brands, your day will come. But in the meantime, this is about people, and Timeline is the primer for sharing more of ourselves online to make the rest of the world, media, business, friends, co-workers, and the experiences of others try to catch and compel us.

Surfacing Relevance Over the Rank and File: Graph Rank

Users add intelligent apps to their Timeline and in doing so, power a set of beacons that fundamentally broadcast preference. Yes, the beacon reference is both a pun and a reference to what we are becoming. We are sharing preferences with people, app developers, Facebook and ultimately the businesses that hope to one day reach us.

It is how this information triggers the network effect that is most interesting to those who either wish to amplify their content or those seeking to discover it. Distribution through News Feed, Ticker, and Timeline is based on what Facebook calls the Graph Rank. This is the underlying system that manages discovery of Open Graph activity in Facebook. Graph Rank is designed to identify and promote engaging activity, thus placing prominence on anything that promises to resonate within the social graph and ultimately within interest graphs.

Examples include…

Watch: Netflix rolled out a new app that shares what people are watching.

Listen: Spotify is bringing free music to Facebook and will share what people are listening to.

Read: Washington Post introduced Social Reader, an intelligent app that shares what you read and shows you what your friends are reading and builds a custom home page with stories around your interests.

Please click here for other examples of how apps verbify your Timeline.

Graph Rank is also personalized. As Facebook notes, “Graph Rank isn’t a global score, but a personalized view of you and your friends’ tastes.”

As a content producer, as a brand, designing engagement or content with resonance as a metric is more than likely to pull all of the right levers with Graph Rank to propel your story with great velocity and reach.

The Story is Just Beginning

At the end of his presentation today, Mark Zuckerberg exclaimed seemed  “We exist at the intersection between technology and social issues.” It’s interesting because at the launch of the iPad 2, Steve Jobs stated that we (Apple) lives at the intersection of technology and liberal arts. I believe that in a social world, we live and thrive at the intersection of technology and sociology.

Before leaving the event, I had a moment to catch up with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. I asked her about the significance of the news today but also if indeed we were witnessing the migration of Facebook away from a social network and toward what I’ve referred to as a personal or social OS. Her response echoed the news of the day and reinforced the current mission of the company, “That’s just too techie for most of our users. Today, we are a platform for storytelling and bringing people together around the stories that matter to them.”

The “new” Facebook is about causing real-time serendipity, triggering actions inside and outside of Facebook because of what we do and share. Through technology and human curation, we are giving substance or meaning to experiences and as a result, the future of the social web is defined by shared experiences, not just in sharing experiences.

Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ | BrianSolisTV
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Facebook founder turned philanthropist donated a staggering 100 million dollars to help invigorate Newark’s buckling education system. A good friend working closely with Mayor Cory Booker and Zuckerberg sent along these brand new images of a visit the pair made to Newark’s KIPP school.

While some viewed Zuckerberg’s generous and unselfish donation as a public relations move, Mayor Booker showed the world otherwise, “We had to convince Mark not to be anonymous.”

In his post on Facebook, Mark went public with his reasons for donating such a substantial amount in his attempts to make a difference to the Newark public school district…

I feel very fortunate for the opportunities I’ve been given because of my education, including the chance to work with talented people and build a great company at such a young age. Rather than waiting until later in life to focus on giving back, I’ve spent a lot of the last year researching and looking for the most impactful ways to improve education starting in America.

On supporting Mayor Booker, Zuckerberg explained his inspiration…

Mayor Booker has committed to make education his single highest priority for his current term in office.  I believe in the Mayor and his vision, and that’s why I want to help them succeed. Using my own Facebook stock, I’m creating the Startup: Education foundation with over $100 million to invest in educating and improving the lives of young people.

Zuckerberg also challenged other entrepreneurs and leaders to also ebrace educational philanthropy…

I’m also challenging others who want to improve education in America to match my contributions.

Source: Mayor Cory Booker’s Flickr Stream

Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Facebook
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Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism:

Facebook is learning to listen.

In the middle of February 2009, the company was yet again a “Beacon” for bad PR as it introduced an updated Terms of Service (Tos) for its entire community of users. We the people responded with defiance and vigor and the company retracted its new language, reverted to the previous ToS, and listened to the valuable feedback that poured in from the community.

By all accounts, this was the right thing to do.

Today in a blog post entitled, “Governing the Facebook Service in an Open and Transparent Way,” Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg released a publicly influenced iteration of its new terms in draft form and invited the public to provide feedback and input.

“Our main goal at Facebook is to help make the world more open and transparent. We believe that if we want to lead the world in this direction, then we must set an example by running our service in this way. We sat down to work on documents that could be the foundation of this and we came to an interesting realization—that the conventional business practices around a Terms of Use document are just too restrictive to achieve these goals. We decided we needed to do things differently and so we’re going to develop new policies that will govern our system from the ground up in an open and transparent way.”

The company is employing one of the social web’s greatest assets, people. In doing so, Facebook is banking on a new genre of user-generated governance (UGG) to improve brand equity as well as customer interaction and loyalty.

Zuckerberg continued, “Beginning today, we are giving you a greater opportunity to voice your opinion over how Facebook is governed. We’re starting this off by publishing two new documents for your review and comment. The first is the Facebook Principles, which defines your rights and will serve as the guiding framework behind any policy we’ll consider—or the reason we won’t consider others. The second document is the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which will replace the existing Terms of Use.”

More About the New User Participation Mechanisms:

Transparency and User Input

Facebook will host virtual Town regarding the proposed Principles and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities for 30 days, with the comment period scheduled to close at 12:01 am PDT on March 29. During this time, we have an opportunity to comment on the proposed policy. You can discuss the Principles in this group; and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities in this group.

After the comment period ends, Facebook will review and consider submissions. Facebook will then republish the Principles and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, incorporating any changes it has made. The company will also provide users a summary of the most common and significant comments received, including its response to those comments.

If these documents are approved, then all future policy changes would be subject to notice and comment periods. Facebook would then publish a final policy proposal that reflects the comments received.

Direct Voting

Following the first Town Halls, The Facebook Principles and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities will be the first set of policies subject to a vote. The vote will be open to all Facebook users active as of February 25, 2009. The results of the vote will be made public and will be binding if more than 30% of all active registered users vote.

If users approve the draft Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, then all future policy changes would be eligible for a vote by users, provided the level of intensity of user interest would justify it. User interest would be determined by the number of users who comment on any proposed change during the comment period.

User Council

Facebook also announced its intention to establish a user council to participate more closely in the development and discussion of policies and practices. As a start, the company indicated that it would invite the authors of the most insightful and constructive comments on the draft documents to serve as founding members of the group.

Creating a Community for Influence

The PR team also created a group within the popular network to communicate more transparently and efficiently with influential voices – those press, analysts, bloggers and pundits who actively cover and analyze the company’s activities and business strategies.

“Welcome to the official group for reporters, bloggers and industry influencers following Facebook. As a member, you will be among the first to learn about new developments at Facebook.”

I believe this move, although long overdue, is a positive step for improving the foundation for future corporate communications and will serve as the epitome and standard for other brands as well as any organization involved in “public relations” and policy making moving forward.

Transparency, genuine intent and proactive communication (in advance of public introduction) will inspire useful and less speculative conversations in the social web. By engaging and involving those who shape the brand perception, Facebook and companies who follow suit, will improve the foundation for important relationships and ultimately set the stage to proactively steer the interpretation of future activity and positively steer brand awareness and resonance.

The Dawn of User Generated Governance

Facebook is serving as one of the most prominent examples of socialized media in action and is building one of the world’s largest new networks dedicated to changing, and ultimately enhancing, how we communicate and interact with each other, and also how we build, nurture, and even define online relationships.

As content contributors and relationship managers, we’re proactively investing in the social economy and Facebook is among the most vital global exchanges for earning a more equitable individual and corporate brand – determined by the capital we net as a result of our interaction within Facebook and also across the Social Web.

We become influencers.

Crowdsourcing policy change or any activity that involves the public it serves is the future of the social web. We’ll see increased activity and transparency from corporations to small businesses to local and national government agencies – all the way to the White House.

Companies in general often underestimate the ability to catalyze a public response – whether positive or negative. Control is but a mere illusion. It is the recognition of this stature, associated public responsibility, and the corresponding cause and effect as it relates to people specifically that will force the rapid evolution of outward and inward Public Relations policies and practices to improve interaction, instill trust, and engender champions.

This evolution will humanize the entire process of development, communication and support, commencing with the creation or iteration of a product, service, or policy, followed by the public introduction of the news and information, as well as the associated response – measured by company engagement, public sentiment and ultimately relationships.

It is this realization that will inspire a new era of crowd-sourced brands as companies embrace the value and potential of the people who define not only the health, state, and future of its population, but also serve as its community ambassadors to the rest of the world.

Related Posts on PR 2.0:
- Barack Obama and User Generated Governance
- Facebook and the Reality of Your Online Content
- The Socialization of Your Personal Brand
- In the Social Web, We Are All Brand Managers
- Facebook is the Hub for Your Personal Brand
- Facebook is a Beacon for Bad PR
- Mark Zuckerberg Listens and Responds to Beacon Crisis
- Beware the Things You Share in the World of Social Media
- The Essential Guide to Social Media
- The Art and Science of Social Media and Community Relations

Shot at SXSWi 2008

A few news outlets reached out to me for comment regarding the uproar sparked by the recent change to Facebook’s Terms of Service (ToS). It inspired a public response as I am not only someone who spends a significant amount of time in the online social field studying digital anthropology and new marketing, I’m also a willing participant in and contributor to the Facebook economy.

So, why is everyone upset?

When you read the new ToS, it’s actually quite alarming…

You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.

If you were to summarize this section, it basically screams that your content is theirs to use when and how they want.

Naturally, bloggers, reporters, analysts, and influential Facebook pundits collectively responded in outrage and surprise. The news continues to draw angst, frustration, and also sparking debates as it permeates real world communities outside of Techmeme. Famed celebrity gossip blogger, Perez Hilton recently called for a boycott to the globally dominating social network.

The reaction is reminiscent of the unbridled public objection to the ill-designed and communicated Beacon 1.0 marketing/advertising program. In that case, the public rightfully forced a response from the elusive and somewhat quiet Mark Zuckerberg and ultimately, a change to the Beacon policy.

Now, confused, somewhat hostile, and critical Facebook constituents have solicited a very human response from Zuckerberg. In it, he attempts to provide a deeper explanation and meaningful rationale behind the ToS modification. It is this response that is potentially difficult for everyday people to comprehend and accept as it is a stark reminder that the social web, is well, social.

“People want full ownership and control of their information so they can turn off access to it at any time. At the same time, people also want to be able to bring the information others have shared with them—like email addresses, phone numbers, photos and so on—to other services and grant those services access to those people’s information. These two positions are at odds with each other. There is no system today that enables me to share my email address with you and then simultaneously lets me control who you share it with and also lets you control what services you share it with.”

Mark Zuckerberg basically attempts to extinguish the flames of his critics by asking us to “trust his team” that our content will not be used in any way that we would disapprove. The ToS language is explicit in its design and ambition that could serve as the flash point for something not yet visible or public. However, their is a potentially disastrous risk involved for any company with a multi-billion dollar valuation and how it uses personal content. For this reason, Facebook’s actions are governed by the market and its ability to dictate the future success or failure of the network.

But to be honest, we should be worried less about how Zuckerberg and co. will use our content when compared to the bigger threat and perils associated with publicly sharing content in general.

His explanation essentially serves as a wake up call to users of all social networks and other forms of social media that what we share online is now shared not only with those we know and trust, but those we don’t know. And, trust is moot when content can freely traverse network to network and person to person without feedback, knowledge or insight until something or someone potentially forces a new revelation wrapped in unsolicited context. Trust gives way to blind intent.

What you share online, from pictures to updates to virtual gifts to videos, paints a picture of who you are and what you represent, regardless of your intentions. Everything accumulates into one vault that ultimately represents your social capital and Facebook, and any other social network – including Twitter – is merely providing you with the ability to define the impressions you feed, the perception you shape, and the personal brand that results from your online participation and contributions across the entire social web.

Once you share content online, control of its course and interpretation is traded for the hope of a positive public response and the ensuing support it may bring. The reality is that it’s an exchange which requires calculation as content can reside on the web for years.

As Kara Swisher so brilliantly educates us, “Here’s the key definition of interactive: ‘Mutually or reciprocally active. That means once you send something to others, it is out there in cyberspace forever, never ever to return. And that goes double on social networking sites, where–let’s be honest–people egregiously overshare and then get all righteous when it is explained to them that sharing means, um, sharing. As in: You cannot take it back, if you have shared with 476 of your closest “friends,” your bikini shots from Cabo.”

I was specifically asked if this change to the ToS wil affect the traffic and popularity of Facebook and other social networks.

My answer?

I hope so.

I would hope that these networks flourish because of their innovation for facilitating new dynamics for public and personal dialog and their transparency to frequently remind us that what we share online really belongs to the community in which we share it.

Facebook and other social networks directly influence their future as measured by their actions and public reaction, which ultimately engenders the community support they deserve.

In the end, it is our responsibility to protect ourselves and our online persona. We must also realize that in the process of sharing and participating online, our content is shared within our seemingly protected inner circle of friends, but the reality is that it also potentially reaches the extended networks that connect our social graph and the graphs that link our friends of friends, their friends of friends, and so on.

In the Social Web, we are now brand managers.

Related Posts on PR 2.0:
- Ariel Waldman vs. Twitter, When TOS Doesn’t Apply to You
- The Battle for Your Social Status
- The Socialization of Your Personal Brand
- In the Social Web, We Are All Brand Managers
- Facebook is the Hub for Your Personal Brand
- Facebook is a Beacon for Bad PR
- Mark Zuckerberg Listens and Responds to Beacon Crisis
- Beware the Things You Share in the World of Social Media

I attended the Facebook f8 developer conference yesterday in San Francisco and I’m still recovering from the overwhelming experience.

Thousands of developers flocked to the San Francisco Design Center to see their Social Sherpa in person and calibrate with his vision for the next year of propagating the social graph. It’s indeed a movement and his influence can not be underestimated. Comparisons to Steve Jobs were broadcast as freely as the ideas for new apps that were exchanged in almost every conversation.

I was lucky enough to get a front row seat for Zuckerberg’s state of the social network and his plans for making Facebook more pervasive in the socialization of online content and relationships.

Facebook is evolving into our dashboard for relationships and everything we do online, creating a cohesive and simplified connection between us to change and improve how we communicate.

Their mission is no small task, “Give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.”

One of the many announcements that was made at the company’s second annual developer conference was Facebook Connect, and it just may well be the epicenter of our social activity.

With just a bit of code, Facebook Connect enables seamless integration between Web sites, pages, communities, and networks and the Facebook identity system. For example, if you’re commenting on a blog hosted on the Moveable Type platform, you can now login with your Facebook details and not only will your comment and link to your Facebook profile appear on the blog, the activity of commenting is also linked back into your activity feed for your friends and colleagues to see. Digg, another example that was shared on stage, also supports FB Connect, making it possible for Diggers to log on using their centralized Facebook ID and for each story they digg, the activity is documented back on their profile.

Facebook Connect partners include Amiando, CBS.com, CitySearch, CNET, CollegeHumor, Disney-ABC, Evite, Flock, Hulu, Kongregate, Loopt, Plaxo, Radar, Red Bull, Seesmic, Socialthing!, StumbleUpon, The Insider, Twitter, Uber, Vimeo and Xobni.

Yes, it’s practically a direct competitor to the important OpenID system that has invested over the years in the education and development of unifying the social web and personal identities – with one login. FB Connect however, assumes that you want a profile in its proprietary social network, which may or may not be a bad thing. It’s ambitious to say the least. And, unlike OpenID, Facebook is not only the keeper of your online identity, but as I’ve written about for two years, it is also an ideal hub for your online brand. If Facebook is listening, I’m not alone in suggesting that the company should also integrate OpenID. It would be the right, and most promising, thing to do.

FB Connect transforms the social network into a portable profile that travels with you across the Web, placing you and your brand at the center of the experience.

This announcement is significant in my opinion, not just for the opportunity it represents today, but for the implementations and opportunities next month, next quarter, next year, and beyond.

The ongoing integration of support for social services in the Facebook NewsFeed is aggregating and expediting personal lifestreams and quickly becoming representative of our true online activity, painting a vivid picture of who we are and what we represent online and in the real world. With FB Connect the previously isolated silo distributes your identity and creates a direct link back to your profile, which ultimately, is a bright, powerful, and distributed beacon for your personal brand.

Facebook Connect also further socializes and unites the Web.

Now, for example, static Websites can socialize, creating a dynamic link between content and people. Businesses and communities can now directly connect corporate brands with personal brands, and more notable, the people behind them. Social networks can build and leverage expertise and reputation and carry thought leadership, preferences, causes, and relationships from community to community. Facebook Connect is a powerful catalyst for investing in and increasing Social Capital.

Remember, Facebook “public” profiles are indexed in online search engines and can be among the top results when your name is searched.

In the real world, your online reputation proceeds you.

For more on the subject, please read:

Jeremiah Owyang

For more pictures from Facebook, please visit bub.blicio.us or the following albums on flickr:

Mark Zuckerberg Keynote

f8

Mark Zuckerberg Press Conference

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, or Facebook.

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I spent time with Sarah Lacy and we talked about…

I’m sure you heard about the infamous Mark Zuckerberg SXSW keynote hosted by well known author, Business Week columnist and Yahoo TechTicker host Sarah Lacy. Just in case you haven’t, let’s just say that some of the audience wasn’t supportive of the casual, conversational format or her style of engaging Zuckerberg in public.

From the get go, many believe that this interview was destined to fail. The angst and rebellion percolated to a boiling point and halfway through keynote, the mob revolted. Several attendees were more vocal than others, heckling her by shouting disruptively, “ask something interesting” and “let us ask the questions.”

She was suddenly hurt and upset, finding herself alone on stage in front of hundreds of Facebook enthusiasts and zealots. They thought that they were defending him and did so by viciously tearing down his host.

Lacy was now the story and Twitter lit up like a million dollar slot machine paying out its winnings in quarters.

The crowd was not sympathetic or apologetic in its fight to take over the conversation.
Lacy succumbed and responded to the public cries, “OK. Let’s go with the Digg model and let them have mob rule.”

That was the tipping point, as represented by one attendee who asked, “Other than rough interviews, what are some of the biggest challenges Facebook faces?”

“Has this been a rough interview?” Lacy asked Zuckerberg.

“I wasn’t asking you, I was asking Mark,” the attendee sniped.

The hostility transferred from the ballroom to the blogosphere and continues as I type. Unknowingly to everyone in the room, this would become a landmark moment on many fronts from keynotes to interviewing techniques to content. Suddenly everyone was an expert.

I should note, that there were several sides of this story. Many appreciated Sarah’s candor and Mark’s responses. Others offered constructive criticism. Marshall Kirkpatrick, Michael Arrington, and many others immediately jumped to her defense.

This is where I change my direction and focus on Sarah Lacy, the person behind the journalist, so that we can have a genuine, honest, and sincere look at her world, both coming into this and leaving with her head up, spirits bruised, but diligence and perseverance stronger than ever.

I spent the rest of the day with Sarah Lacy and let her open up “on the record” for this authorized, unfiltered discussion.

Just so we’re clear, this isn’t a puff piece. She doesn’t need it, nor would she appreciate it. Her work stands for itself.

It’s easy to spotlight her mistakes and not recognize her accomplishments during the keynote. Jeff Jarvis believes her biggest faux pas was not knowing her audience. He recommended that she engage them in advance of the conference to get an idea of what they wanted. To be honest, it’s not unreasonable advice.

I offered my own advice to her when we sat together as well, and, she listened. It’s important to note that because it’s easy for anyone to react defensively. Instead, she simply listened and processed everything.

Did she make mistakes?

Sure. She’s the first to tell you that.

Could she have responded differently?

Sure.

If you think she owes you an apology or needs to fall on the sword for her Q&A; with Zuckerberg, don’t hold your breath. Sarah Lacy doesn’t need to apologize to anyone other than Mark. But guess what? Even Zuckerberg supported the interview, so an apology is that last thing he wants. In fact, he empathizes with her.

I asked Sarah if anyone thought to get Mark’s take on this.

She agreed that it’s the story that isn’t getting told.

I saw Mark last night and I can tell you he’s not happy about the sweeping negativity against Sarah either.

So here’s the real story.

This keynote was designed in collaboration with SXSW. They wanted a conversational fireside chat that was representative of their friendship. Together, they decided that they would forgo Q&A; in advance. Facebook requested Lacy because she’s a “business” reporter, not a developer or a geek capable of asking technical questions. They wanted a business discussion. But, since its SXSW and not the Web 2.0 Summit, they wanted it to be fun, lively, and engaging.

If anyone underestimated the audience, it was the conference organizers. That’s my opinion not hers.

Instead, Sarah is thankful for the opportunity, appreciative of her friendship with Mark, and isn’t pointing the finger at anyone.

Zuckerberg is an easy target and often is. His personality and his style isn’t necessarily the easiest to navigate. Yet, Sarah was able to get him to open up, laugh, share things he’s never publicly addressed before and most importantly, also show you that he’s a passionate human being. Not even 60 minutes could do this…

At the end of the discussion, the general perception is that Zuckerberg shined. Sarah believes that if she took the bullet and the negative spotlight away from Mark, then so be it. She’ll do it again. And, regardless of what you think about her career direction after this, I guarantee you that she’ll have the opportunity to interview Mark many more times along with the industry’s biggest names.

Their goal, yes, I said “their” goal, for
going into this was to simply show you another side of Mark and also reveal answers to the quest
ions that most people only speculated to be fact, but never before officially confirmed.

They wanted to focus on Facebook, both the company and the product, to explore why the site is breaking new ground and growing exponentially along the way. It was to be macro enough for a CEO, but interesting enough to resonate with developers. The discussion would also provide mainstream press with a peek into the hallways and conference rooms at Facebook HQ.

Any journalist who’s ever interviewed Zuckerberg will tell you that it’s almost impossible to get news and details out of him.

Even though they’re friends, Sarah still had a sizeable amount of pressure to share new things with the audience.

Like it or not, her style delivered just that.

During my discussion with Sarah, we agreed that there was real news value and information shared, which not only confirm rumors and assumptions, but also provided a looking glass into the business mind and vision of Mr. Mark Zuckerberg and the future of Facebook.

Zuckerberg went on the record confirming that Yahoo had made a $1 billion offer. And, he also gave us insight into the discussions as to why they didn’t accept it. There were many people that felt $1 billion was a generous offer. Surely, everyone would have become rich. However, he’s building a platform for the future of how people are going to communicate. $1 billion would simply have been a distraction. He also eluded that there were “management changes” following that offer. Mark has bigger plans for the company and was more than open to share these back channel stories with Sarah.

During the discussion, Sarah also encouraged Mark to share his thoughts on the $15 billion valuation. Mark graciously abided and reinforced his vision for the company. At $1 billion, his plans would have been greatly hampered in order to scale globally. Think about it, he’s building something here, and that’s his focus. He said that they’re not looking at an IPO, although it’s easy to do, but instead, he’s surrounding himself with people who are share in his aspirations and the great goal of connecting people more effectively.

Zuckerberg freely shared his views on hiring Sheryl Sandberg from Google and the company’s new COO. Even though she’s considered the “token grownup,” Mark is incredibly optimistic in her ability to help the company scale.

Mark’s vision for the ad strategy was also important. He observed that his positioning as the biggest thing to happen to media in 100 years needed further clarification. He noted that it is simply contributing to its evolution and at the same time, breaking new ground.

On Beacon, Mark admitted that his biggest mistake was not communicating it more effectively and ensuring that people had absolute control to “opt in.” But at the same time, Mark revealed that his goal and focus is to empower users and the ad network is only going rapidly evolve into something we can benefit from. They learned. He talked about what went wrong and what they need to do to make things right.

On the applications front, they’re recalibrating the platform so that apps, and developers, can get wider distribution, which for a conference of developers should have been pretty staggering news.

Oh, did you hear that Facebook launched in France yesterday and that they’re boosting their international efforts?

Have you seen the Leslie Stahl, 60 minutes interview? Have you had an opportunity to watch Mark speak at a conference?

If so, you can attest to the general sentiment and fact, that there’s always going to be a pleasant quirkiness to Mark and the answers he chooses to share or not to share and when, if at all, he should elaborate. He’s an elusive target at best.

At the end of the day, if you stop and reflect on Mark’s animation during the keynote, I think this was the most lively anyone has seen him in public to date. It’s the most comfortable we’ve ever seen him and Sarah is largely responsible for that. She actually humanized Mr. Mark Zuckerberg. She did that by being human as well, a trait that many reporters lose as they polish their chops over the years.

Is it wrong?

No, it’s just different. The one thing Sarah helped me understand is that is exactly why she was there.

Ask Sarah why you think that he shared all of this information for the first time and she’ll tell you that she’s lucky enough to have Mark as a friend and that he trusts him with his words and his personality.

Did you know that she first started getting to know Mark when he was only 19? She’s one of the few who have access to Mark. She shared that with everyone in Austin and for that, I for one am appreciative.

The truth is that Mark doesn’t know many people very well. SXSW selected Sarah because of the unique, and professional, friendship she has with Mark. She was able to not only ask the questions that every traditional reporter or moderator wishes they could ask, but she also got the answers. And, in that, they succeeded.

We were privy to meatier content and not the same old stuff we see from other reporters who try to tackle the Facebook story.

“Oh you’re just 23, what’s it like?”

“When are you going public?”

“How does it feel to be the next MySpace?”

What matters is this, Sarah was able to help Mark open up on stage and she would do it again.

“I feel for Mark because he sometimes people don’t understand his personality. I wanted to show a more human side of him and share with everyone the Mark I know. I asked the hardest questions that no one has succeeded in earning answers, and we all shared in his responses. I’m lucky and thankful of my friendship with Mark and the time I was able to spend with him at SXSW.”

As a conclusion, I thought I would share with you a great story that Sarah shared with me.

Before they went on stage, Mark told Sarah that she could ask him all of the tough questions she wanted, but that he had one request. As silly as this sounds, he wanted to wrap the keynote with a hug before they walked off stage. It was his way of saying that he also appreciates their friendship by showing it in front of everyone.

She was flustered. He was confused. They d
idn’t hug. Back stage, they were both speechless.
They looked at each other and Mark asked for that hug.

“At the end of the day if Mark looked good then that’s all that matters to me,” – Sarah Lacy.

Pictures from the keynote are in my SXSW set on Flickr.

UPDATE: Just to be clear, Facebook selected Sarah Lacy, not SXSW.

UPDATE 2: Lacy discusses her observations on the technology behind the online conversations at BusinessWeek.

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, or Facebook.

In my last post, Facebook is a Beacon for Bad PR, I called for Mark Zuckerberg to respond using the very system which they own and operate.

“Think about it Mark. You’re sitting on a multi-billion dollar infrastructure for connecting people. Use it! Mark, learn from Steve Jobs. Write a letter and apologize.

Engage your community using the incredible social features that are designed to facilitate conversations in your network. Regain the trust of your community and watch as everyone becomes ‘a fan’ of Facebook again.

One letter, one step, in one social network, will put you on the right path and spark uncountable threads of conversations that will commend you and your company, encourage group hugs, incite some high fiving, and equally important, show advertisers that you can handle a crisis. Remember, this is a people business.

We’re ‘poking’ you for your own good, so let’s see that letter show up in our NewsFeeds and let’s move on to building a better network that connects people to each other along with the very things that interest them.”

Today, Mark Zuckerberg responded.

Here are the highlights:

“About a month ago, we released a new feature called Beacon to try to help people share information with their friends about things they do on the web. We’ve made a lot of mistakes building this feature, but we’ve made even more with how we’ve handled them. We simply did a bad job with this release, and I apologize for it.

When we first thought of Beacon, our goal was to build a simple product to let people share information across sites with their friends. But we missed the right balance.

The problem with our initial approach of making it an opt-out system instead of opt-in was that if someone forgot to decline to share something, Beacon still went ahead and shared it with their friends. It took us too long after people started contacting us to change the product so that users had to explicitly approve what they wanted to share. Instead of acting quickly, we took too long to decide on the right solution. I’m not proud of the way we’ve handled this situation and I know we can do better.

On behalf of everyone working at Facebook, I want to thank you for your feedback on Beacon over the past several weeks and hope that this new privacy control addresses any remaining issues we’ve heard about from you.”

Is this the response we all wanted to see? Probably not.

Is this PR in action? Absolutely.

But, this is the direction the company needed to take in order to stop the bleeding. His words, most notably, his apology, humanize the company.

The letter is a good first step. I do commend him for responding, and doing so through Facebook. It was the right thing to do. And more importantly, the company publicly learned from this and also added a feature that allows you to turn Beacon off all together.

However, there is still an issue that remains, and that is, what happens to the information that is gathered on the advertiser’s side. Even though, it’s not getting sent back to Facebook for an “opt out,” where is it going? Read Om Malik’s post about it here.

Actions speak louder than words. This is a people business. We need to be at the forefront of every business decision that Facebook makes here on forward. Let’s not forget that we’re in control of whether or not we chose to participate in The Facebook. I’m not sure that there will be another chance should business decisions usurp customer service in the future…

Abooooooouuuut Face!

Additional voices on the subject:
TechCrunch, Epicenter, GigaOM, Inside Facebook, Read/WriteWeb, AppScout, Insider Chatter, Silicon Alley Insider, VentureBeat, Between the Lines, p2pnet, Valleywag, Bubblegeneration Strategy Lab, JD on EP, Digital Destiny, Webomatica, Global Neighbourhoods, The Praized Blog, Joho the Blog, Scobleizer, Technosailor

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

I’ve been sitting on this post for a while, although I touched upon it at bub.blicio.us recently and also discussed it with Alan Levy on his BlogTalkRadio program last week. Robert Scoble’s plea for Facebook PR pushed me to finish it.

It’s important to understand from the beginning that this is much more than simply “poking Facebook.”

The social network is experiencing a mini meltdown and has many fans, users, and advertisers pulling an “about face.” It’s not just related to one problem however, it’s a series of missteps that continue to go unaddressed. Even worse, Facebook’s silence is naturally fostering speculation and unfortunately, it’s only reinforced by the steps the company does and doesn’t take following every point of contention.

Facebook is a hot startup, but it’s just that, a hot startup. It is not an institution, yet the company’s business and marketing swagger is reminiscent of profitable and proven companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, and Apple. Its branding might as well be, Facebook, we’re better than you.

The pile-on has already begun and it’s not going to get any better anytime soon until Facebook takes proactive steps to communicate with the very people who are driving its incredible growth.

When introducing the new advertising platform in New York recently, Zuckerberg positioned the news along the lines of, every 100 years media changes. We were supposed to focus on Facebook and forget about all of the incredible media milestones over the last 99 years. It was a blow to progress and evolution.

Recently, 02138 published “Poking Facebook,” which is by far, the most in-depth article to date that thoroughly examines everything Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. The Harvard U article reads more like an expose rather than a feature story. And as an interesting aside, it is also the central HQ for the public court documents related to the developing story on ConnectU vs. Facebook.

Zuckerberg, at the moment, isn’t helping his case. It’s all about perception management.

According to Kara Swisher, a judge in Massachusetts denied a request by Facebook to take down certain confidential court documents.

Remember, this isn’t just a trial in the U.S. judicial system. This is a trial in the court of public opinion. Zuckerberg is accused of stealing code and ideas to start Facebook. When paired with the right mix of bad publicity, it has the potential of forming a perfect storm, regardless of the truth.

Then there’s the “Beacon Gate” scandal that continues to rock Facebook and its circle of existing and potential advertisers.

Beacon is a socialized form of advertising that shares your activities on an advertiser’s site with all your friends on Facebook through their News Feeds. Up until recently, you had to “opt out” of that feature which had privacy advocates, users, and advertisers, upset, not only because it’s a controversial program, but also because it gave the impression that Facebook had “lied” to everyone about how it really worked.

Subsequently, it is now an opt in program. But that isn’t quieting the critics who demand something more than a switch in the program details.

I recently read on TechCrunch, that a security engineer’s analysis uncovers new privacy issues. Beacon partners transmit data to Facebook in bulk about members who visit their site. This is true even for those who opt out of Beacon by clicking on “No Thanks” when asked if the data can be shared with Facebook – the data is sent anyway. Facebook maintains that it doesn’t do anything with this “opted-out” data, and that it automatically deletes it. But, is it or isn’t it deleted from advertiser’s servers?

And how does Facebook communicate with users during these trying times? It changes the program to appease its users, which should be great right? Well, no. Not exactly.

Let’s not fool ourselves. Facebook didn’t reverse its policy to satisfy our concerns and to rebuild customer trust and enthusiasm.

The move was was made to stop the bleeding of advertising revenue (Coca Cola, Overstock, Travelocity).

Cluetrain Manifesto co-author David Weinberger notes, “But in this matter Facebok overall is showing itself not to be on its users side. There is no reason not to give users a big red opt out button — making the whole thing opt in would be even better — except that FB knows we would use it. FB is choosing its own interests over its users’.”

All of this on the heels that Facebook is raking in investments that fortify its lofty $15 billion
valuation, and reports are, that they’re not done fund raising.

The next few months will be particularly decisive for Facebook and its still bright future. It’s going to come down to whether or not Mark Zuckerberg is or isn’t the next Bill Gates, or at the very lease, a leader that the public can stand behind. The only way we’ll know will be rooted in the decisions and statement he makes about the company’s immediate intentions, policies, and direction for growth and his ability to publicly learn from mistakes.

So at what point does Facebook PR or Zuckerberg himself engage in reminding us that Facebook is only human?

Facebook is a social network after all. It promotes the social graph. Its business is dependent on people, and right now, its building a wall between users and company leaders instead of investing in a social graph of its own.

Every company makes mistakes. It’s the great companies that learn from them while still listening to and engaging customers.

Think about it. They’re sitting on a multi-billion dollar infrastructure for connecting people.

Zuckerberg, use it!

This isn’t a small traditional crisis communications program where a press release will appease the concerns of the market and customer-base alike. In any good crisis program, there is a series of communications that humanize the company, strategically acknowledge problems, and also cultivate relationships, which if done right, only strengthen the company’s position, not weaken it, or worse, kill it.

Trust me when I say that the damage being done right now is bordering on irreversible loss to brand credibility.

Mark, learn from Steve Jobs. Write a letter and apologize.

Engage your community using the incredible social features that are designed to facilitate conversations in your network. Regain the trust of your community and watch as everyone becomes “a fan” of Facebook again. One letter, one step, in one social network, will put you on the right path and spark uncountable threads of conversations that will commend you and your company, encourage group hugs, incite some high fiving, and equally important, show advertisers that you can handle a crises. They will reward you with their advertising dollars and users will reward you with continued participation.

Remember, this is a people business. They need to be at the forefront in every business decision you make here on forward – especially now that every move will be highly scrutinized.

We’re “poking” you for your own good, so let’s see that letter show up in our NewsFeeds and let’s move on to building a better network that connects people to each other along with the very things that interest us. But, remember, we’re in control of whether or not we chose to participate in The Facebook.

Crisis will happen. And in the world of Social Media, fires can spread at an uncontrollable pace. However, the very tools and channels that fuel negative discussions can also host the conversations that help regain customer trust and loyalty. Everything starts with people.

For more on the story, visit:

AllFacebook

Insider Chatter

Fake Mark Zuckerberg – PR-Sqaured

RIP Facebook? – Josh Quittner

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