An Ugly Truth Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

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Brief Summary

Mark Zuckerberg will, undoubtedly, go down in history and be a business powerhouse. The mark he made on the American psyche, culture, politics, and business will be felt for decades to come. But, at what cost?

American privacy is almost non-existent. Big brother is watching and social media platforms like Facebook are fighting cries for change. Only time will tell what happens next.

About the Author

After spending a decade as a foreign correspondent, Sheera Frankel turned her attention from the Middle East to cybersecurity. Covering the topic for the New York Times, Frankel has earned national acclaim.

Co-author Cecilia Kang has spent over a decade writing for both The Washington Post and The New York Times before collaborating with Frankel on this investigative piece.

Together, the two authors have won multiple awards including the George Polk Award and the Gerald Loeb Award. Additionally, the two were members of the team of investigative reporters who were 2019 Finalists for the Pulitzer Prize.

Topics

Biography & Memoir

An Ugly Truth Book Summary Preview

Who Should Read This

Marketers looking to understand the impact of social media on public opinion and behavior.
Anyone looking to understand how a single platform can monopolize an industry, stoke the fires of civil unrest, and avoid taking responsibility for any of it.

What You’ll Learn

How Facebook went from a campus-based project to an international powerhouse capable of changing cultural and political landscapes across the world.
How Mark Zuckerberg managed to grow the platform to unprecedented heights while weathering nearly nonstop criticism and lawsuits.
The role Facebook played in domestic and international violent uprisings.
What the future holds for Facebook and future social media platforms.

Timeline

2002: FaceMash takes form at Harvard. Designed to rate the attractiveness of female classmates, pressure from faculty and students alike grew too intense and FashMash was replaced with Thefacebook.
2004: The first iteration of Facebook, Thefacebook, is created with a similar premise and goal but limited capabilities.
2006: Facebook founder, Mark Zuckberg turns down Yahoo’s offer to buy the company for a billion dollars and launches its (now famous and ever-changing) News Feed to serve as an activity hub for users.
2008: Sheryl Sandberg is brought on board as the company’s chief operating officer and transforms the company into a massively successful advertising platform.
2009: Facebook introduces the “like” button and gave users the ability to offer real-time feedback.
2009: The Center for Digital Democracy files a complaint with the FTC and alleges exploitation of user data. As a result, the company agreed to have its privacy controls audited regularly.
2016: Russian hackers distribute misinformation and stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee. Facebook refuses to take responsibility for the impact these hackers had on the election outcome.
2016: Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, is hired by Facebook as a consultant in a bid to ensure peaceful relations between Facebook and the Trump administration.

Key Insights

In less than 10 years, Facebook went from a campus project to an internationally recognized powerhouse. Then, nearly as fast as it took over the world, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg became hotbeds of scandal, controversy, and unprecedented legal battles as it weathered accusations of stoking the fires of civil unrest, neglecting its responsibilities to moderate content, and facilitating conspiracy theories and violent mob organizations.

To what degree is the founder, Zuckerberg, responsible? That depends on who you ask. Zuckerberg continues to maintain that he’s done little more than defend the right to free speech. Everyone from civil rights activists to high-ranking politicians have presented almost incomprehensible amounts of evidence to support their claim of moral irresponsibility, unethical business practices, and an almost criminal refusal to prevent civil unrest and violence.

Placing Ethical Concerns in the Backseat From the Beginning

Starting with FaseMash, Zuckerberg’s precursor to Facebook, it was evident that the moral compass of the man who became a legend was questionable at best. The entire premise of the site was to rate women on their beauty - with little concern for feelings or expected consequences.

Unfortunately, this motto of “success at any...