You Don’t Have A Facebook?

Back when booze-loving college students, hot for a hookup, were the ones who cared about Facebook, grown-up David Kirkpatrick sensed the future: that this online version of society would eventually replace real life. Seriously, though, before businesses started uploading their faces to the book (and enticing you to hook them up with your money), Kirkpatrick, a former technology reporter for Fortune magazine, was urging the corporate sector to care about “the Facebook effect.” That nod to the viral spread of information through identity-based websites became the title of Kirkpatrick’s book. The Facebook Effect examines the past, present and future of the site, covering the history of social media and the relationship between Facebook and Google. Over his years of reporting, Kirkpatrick earned the trust of Facebook’s rich, young founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Unlike the other Facebook tell-all, Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires, Kirkpatrick offers more confession than conjecture and no tabloid tone. The author speaks at the Kansas City Central Library (14 West 10th Street, 816-701-3407) at 6:30 p.m., following a reception at 6.— Crystal K. Wiebe

Tue., July 20, 6 p.m., 2010