Facebook Find-Outs From a Former Employee
by Alyssa Oursler | June 26, 2012 11:15 am
Sometimes, news about Facebook (NASDAQ:FB[1]) sounds a bit like a broken record. Take the disappointing IPO, for example, that continues to make investment headlines[2] even after big names have written the stock off.[3]
Old news.
Now, though, former employee Katherine Loss is shedding new light on Facebook[4] in her recently released book The Boy Kings: A Journey into the Heart of the Social Network.
Sure, if you’ve seen the movie The Social Network, the image of Facebook being more like a frat house — with a bunch of boys throwing toga and pool parties, a common theme in of many of Losse’s stories — isn’t exactly news either.
But here are a few facts you probably haven’t heard about the social media giant:
- For employees, Facebook is life. A position at the company isn’t simply thought of as a job, but working as part of “the cause.”
- When Losse was hired, workers were incentivized to live within one mile of the office.
- They also competed for the most popular profiles; the most-liked photos and posts were rewarded with money. (If some of these highly-liked company pages[5] had been competing, they may have made some cash, too.)
- The office, for a short time, was arranged into a roller rink[6], where employees skated around by day and competed in races by night. Losse even purchased a skate ramp so her co-workers could practice tricks and jumps — and they did, using anything from skates to a swivel chair.
- Employees had access to every profile when Facebook was first started — a bit scary, but it shows the site has come a long way[7] in terms of privacy and security.
Endnotes:
- FB: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=FB
- continues to make investment headlines: https://investorplace.com/ipo-playbook/is-it-time-to-buy-facebook/
- have written the stock off.: https://investorplace.com/2012/06/mark-cuban-took-a-beating-on-facebook/
- shedding new light on Facebook: http://www.cnbc.com/id/47949424
- these highly-liked company pages: https://investorplace.com/2012/06/5-most-facebook-famous-stocks-goog-viab-znga-fb-nwsa/
- arranged into a roller rink: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-losse/facebook-boy-kings_b_1625966.html
- come a long way: https://investorplace.com/2012/06/new-law-requires-sex-offender-status-on-facebook/
Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/06/facebook-find-outs-from-a-former-employee/