Author Criticized for Wild Tales about the Founding of Facebook

Anyone familiar with Ben Mezrich's writing knows that the author likes to make things seem perhaps a little more sensational than they would likely be in the "real world." But is there anything wrong with that? Apparently, there is if you're writing about the hottest website/company in the world and you're being critiqued on all sides by people who have conflicting information and accounts of what you're writing about. Of course, the end result is that a controversial book about Facebook is going to be wildly popular and is going to attract a ton of mainstream media attention. Michael who?

In Mezrich's self-proclaimed non-fiction work about the founding of Facebook, he admits to taking some liberties about some of the back-story behind how the site was first conceived and launched. It's interesting that Mezrich was able to put the book together without having ever interviewed Mark Zuckerberg, the actual primary founder of Facebook. That fact alone should be enough to let readers know that the book may not provide a totally "accurate" account of the events that surrounded the founding of the site.

Despite some of the negative press he's getting, Mezrich seems to be a big fan of the site. "I really believe Facebook can continue forward and get bigger and bigger and bigger and be really one of the most valuable companies in the world," Mezrich said. "It becomes your social life," he said. "It's the next step in human evolution. I know that sounds really grand but I think we have gone from the village to city to Facebook."