A company takes a leap of faith when it grants access to a journalist, and I appreciate Facebook’s decision to grant the invaluable time and energy of their employees in interviews with me. I am especially grateful that the company kept that faith after it became clear that my book would be taking a turn that neither Facebook nor I expected. Elliot Schrage and Caryn Marooney were key in granting me that access, forwarding my pitch to Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg. My guides to Facebook, Bertie Thomson and Derick Mains, skillfully managed to support the project while serving their employer well. My thanks also go to the rest of Facebook’s communications staff, who did their best to provide me with information and interviews, including a late arrival, John Pinette. The promises of access, especially to Mark and Sheryl, were met and exceeded, and in the final months, both of those leaders made a special effort to engage me, with particularly constructive (I think!) sessions on our final meetings. I thank them both, as well as the hundreds of Facebookers, past and present, who spoke with me.
Facebook has been the subject of deep attention since its origin, and I appreciate the work that all my fellow journalists and authors have done. In particular, David Kirkpatrick’s The Facebook Effect is an invaluable look at the company’s first half decade. I owe a special thanks to Jessi Hempel, who shared some of her interviews with me, as well as her wisdom and comments. An associate computer-science professor named Michael Zimmer has created an amazing resource called the Zuckerberg Files, an attempt at a comprehensive archive of every single interview of its namesake; I feasted on it. Casey Newton’s newsletter, The Interface, helped me keep current with the daily torrent of Facebook news.
I spent a lot of time in California working over the past three years, and I owe a lot to those who provided me with shelter and support. Lynnea Johnson and Caroline Rose’s bungalow was my bivouac for much of the time, until I imposed on John Markoff and Leslie Terizan. Katie Hafner and Bob Wachter were splendid hosts in San Francisco. Leslie Berlin generously lent me her son’s car before he rightfully claimed it for his campus use. Thanks also to friends on two coasts: Bradley Horowitz, Irene Au, Brad Stone, Kevin Kelly, Megan Quinn, M. G. Siegler, and Steve and Michelle Stoneburn.
Back on the East Coast, I had two other writing homes. The Writers Room in Manhattan is a wonderful retreat. And the Otis Library in Massachusetts provided precious connectivity—and convivial hospitality—in broadband-starved western Mass. (Fiber-optic is coming, though!)
Lindsay Muscato was a meticulous and omnivorous researcher. She also did a masterful pivot to the captain of my fact-checking team, which included the talented and tireless Rosemarie Ho and Rima Parikh. (All errors are mine, of course, but many errors have been avoided due to their heroic labors.) Lu Zhao provided superb help with the notes. Transcriber par excellence Abby Royle spent many hours with the voices of Facebookers in her ear.
Serena Cho, a journalism student who looked into Zuckerberg’s Exeter years, helped me with background on the school.
Thanks also to my colleagues at Backchannel and then Wired—which merged halfway through the book. Nick Thompson patiently waited out my book leave, and my editors Sandra Upson and Vera Titinuk understood the balancing act. Issie Lapowsky, who was on the Facebook beat at Wired, was more than generous with thoughts and connections.
My agent, Flip Brophy, as always, was as solid an advocate and adviser as any writer could hope for. Thanks also to Nell Pierce at Literistic.
Thanks to all the Dutton/Blue Rider team. John Parsley patiently waited for the manuscript and then handled it well. Cassidy Sachs skillfully managed logistics. I appreciated Rachelle Mandik’s sharp copyediting eye. Alice Dalrymple skillfully captained a speedy production process. Facebook: The Inside Story was originally signed by David Rosenthal of Blue Rider Press—hey, David, it’s done!
As always, the most thanks go to family, some of whom—sister, in-laws, niece—I keep up with via private Facebook groups unaffected by fake news and Russian misinformation campaigns. I couldn’t do this without Andrew Max Levy and Teresa Carpenter’s support and love.