America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 133. Facebook Launch and Emergency Response

June 1, 2003, is the day Facebook officially launched.

UCLA, as one of the Public Ivy League schools, brings together outstanding students from all over the world.

As a student from a well-off family, Barry didn't have to pay his tuition, and he even had his own laptop.

As usual, the first thing I do after waking up is to open my laptop and skillfully type in Google to see what interesting news happened in the world overnight.

The first thing you see is a large sign that reads: "Facebook, making everyone a star!"

As a seasoned surfer, Barry immediately realized this was a GG (game over), meaning the page was taking up way too much space.

He shook his head, not really interested in clicking on it. He browsed through it but didn't find anything interesting.

Then I exited Google and opened Yahoo!, and the most eye-catching thing on the homepage was still that phrase – "Facebook, making everyone the star!"

After hesitating for a moment, Barry clicked on it this time, gave himself a random fake name, and entered information such as gender, age, and school. He then arrived at his main interface.

He spent about ten minutes reading the introduction and figuring out how Facebook operates before posting his first text update.

When he got up, finished washing up, and checked his notebook again, an exclamation mark in the upper right corner reminded him that there was a new message.

Upon opening the post, two comments appeared under the newly published status, along with a friend request from a girl. Of course, whether the person behind the computer is actually a girl is anyone's guess.

This made Barry feel both novel and excited; he had never had such an experience before.

If we were to draw an analogy, it would be like when you were a child, you would secretly take a phone and make a paid call to the customer service representative.

The friend request was accepted immediately, and the first name appeared in Barry's friend list.

He left the dormitory with his laptop in his arms, his feet never stopping, but his eyes remained fixed on the laptop screen.

Barry discovered that through the girl, he could see the profiles and posts of her friends, and even add her friends as friends.

This means that if two people become friends, it doesn't just represent the two of them, but also the vast network of relationships behind them.

Just like a neuron can branch out into countless tributaries, you can easily fill a friend list of 5000 people if you're willing to try, since Facebook currently only supports a limit of 5000 people.

"Hey! Junior, keep your eyes on when you walk."

Suddenly, he heard a voice advising him. Barry looked up and saw a sexy, hot blonde woman leaning against a pillar in the corridor, looking at him.

"Laura Lin!"

Barry blurted out the other person's name without thinking. The beautiful girl opposite him was a member of the school's cheerleading team, the dream girl of many boys, and a frequent subject of dirty jokes among boys.

"You know me?" Laura asked with a smile.

"Of course, who doesn't know you at this school?"

"Hehehe, am I that popular? But I don't seem to know you, we're not friends yet."

Barry thought to himself, "Your friends are all on the school team. With my physique, I'd be smashed to pieces if I went onto the field."

"Junior, if you want to be my friend, add my Facebook account so you can know what I'm doing all the time."

Barry nodded quickly: "I'm using Facebook, you see."

The two added each other as friends, and after waving goodbye to Laura Lin, Barry happily continued walking towards the classroom.

Along the way, Barry noticed many handsome men and beautiful women recruiting people to promote their products. They were either members of the school team or cheerleaders. At that moment, Barry suddenly realized that it was another guy.

Even though he knew it was a GG (Girls' Love), he couldn't bear to delete it. These school team and cheerleading members were all prominent figures in the school. How could they usually have any interaction with him? Now that they did, he naturally wanted to cherish it.

Besides, although it hasn't been long, Barry found Facebook quite interesting. His posts attracted comments from others, which gave him a sense of satisfaction in being the center of attention.

"Facebook, making everyone a star!"

Barry seemed to understand the meaning of the GG word.

The same thing is happening at universities across the United States. As the group of people who are most receptive to new things, many college students quickly chose to join Facebook.

Eric didn't go to MGM today; instead, he flew to Silicon Valley early this morning and is now sitting on the same floor as Facebook.

He, along with FitzHeisenberg, Robert Millen, and Howard Hughes, gathered in front of the computer, watching the backend data.

The number of registered users suddenly jumped from "0" to "544".

Eric glanced at his watch: "In less than five minutes, we've already got over 500 new users. That's a very good trend."

"Because your promotional strategy is correct, boss, there is no better environment for Facebook to grow than a university campus," Heisenberg complimented.

Eric smiled. "How's the server issue going?"

"We are currently procuring the goods and have already placed the order. In fact, as long as it is completed within a month, I believe there will be no major problems. With the current server capacity, it can definitely handle it, unless people have all gone mad."

"Never let your guard down. Always provide users with the best experience. Only in this way can we remain invincible in the face of challengers."

"By the way, Fitz, I suddenly realized a problem. Although Facebook allows users to post photos in their feeds, uploading photos always relies on a data cable or memory card, whether using a phone or a camera. Could you create software to make photo transfer more convenient?"

"Boss, do you mean discarding the data cable or memory card?"

"That's right."

Fitz thought for a moment: "It shouldn't be difficult. We can develop a Bluetooth plugin that can be built into Facebook. Users only need to pair their phones and computers via Bluetooth to transfer data. However, there are still some problems."

"What's the problem?"

"Looking at mobile phones, most of them now have built-in Bluetooth functionality. However, computers have a longer lifespan, and some older ones are likely not equipped with Bluetooth modules."

Eric chuckled: "This isn't our problem. Users need to solve their own problems. We're just providing a convenient path, which might even stimulate consumption. Those electronics manufacturers should thank us."

"Alright then, I'll finish this plugin as soon as possible. It's not technically difficult, and I estimate it should be done in about a week."

Eric nodded: "Let's use this plugin as the first version update for Facebook. From now on, we'll have to keep releasing new content all the time, at least once a month."

"Likes, blocking, privacy settings, viewing visitors, search engines, automatic friend recommendations, mini-games—I need you to gradually add these features to the complete system."

"Don't worry, boss, I know what to do!"

As they were talking, the numbers in the background jumped again, changing from 3554 to 15387.

Eric's eyes lit up: "How come it suddenly increased so much?"

The tech guy next to him went into the database to check, and after a moment he turned around and reported, "Boss, Nicole Kidman registered an account and posted an update, which brought in a considerable amount of traffic."

As a social networking software, Facebook requires real-name registration as a prerequisite. Without this foundation, the sense of authenticity would be greatly reduced, so technology can quickly locate the target from the background.

However, this real-name system is only a broad concept. The internal program of the system can only determine whether it is a person's name, but cannot determine whether the name is real.

For example, if you choose a name like "Dog Shit," it's obviously not a person's name, so you won't be able to complete the registration.

Your real name is Sheldon, but you registered using Leonard's name. Congratulations on your successful registration.

Facebook can only go this far. To truly achieve a real-name system, similar to the real-name system in later China, it needs to work harder.

This would require access to the federal database, importing citizens' social security account information and other private data into Facebook's database.

However, it's obvious that this approach is impossible; the law simply wouldn't pass.

Furthermore, Facebook has been involved in numerous user privacy breaches due to technical issues, resulting in even more lawsuits and fines in the future.

In other words, it didn't lead to any serious consequences, and the matter was handled haphazardly.

If access to the federal database were granted, the leaks would extend far beyond just trivial phone numbers and email accounts.

The requirement for real-name registration adds an extra hurdle for everyone.

Big stars will definitely use their real names to increase exposure and publicity, unless they plan to use a fake account to fight against others.

For example, basketball stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant like to use alternate accounts to praise themselves or insult others; Megan Markle even used 12 alternate accounts to insult her sister-in-law Kate Middleton; and the famous Chinese case of Yuan Li stealing a dog has become a meme.

Unlike big stars, ordinary people are more carefree; nobody really knows what's behind their computers.

Eric found a computer, sat down, logged into his Facebook account, searched for Nicole, and clicked to add her as a friend.

After waiting for a while, it didn't go through.

He added it again, but it still didn't pass.

After trying several times, Eric simply made a phone call, and this time the call was answered instantly.

"Nico, I see you've opened a Facebook account. Why aren't you accepting my friend request?"

On the other end came Nico's slightly helpless voice: "Eric, is it really you? You don't know, since I logged in, dozens of Eric Coopers have tried to add me as a friend, as well as other friends. I have no way of knowing who's real and who's fake."

"I passed the first one, and after saying a few words, the other party actually started asking for my photos, or to be precise, nude photos."

"I became alert. Luckily, I didn't send it to them in a moment of impulsiveness, otherwise I would definitely be in the news tomorrow."

Eric instantly understood that it was a problem of duplicate names. Thinking about it, it made sense; it would be strange if hundreds of millions of people didn't have the same name, not to mention those who tried to take advantage of the situation.

"I understand. Remember my ID and just search for me to add me. Bye. You reminded me of something I need to deal with right away."

After saying that, Eric hung up the phone and hurriedly left the small room.

"Fitz, now send a message to everyone using our official account, warning that there are many users with the same name, so don't fall for it."

"If the other party asks for money or sensitive information, be sure to verify them by phone and don't fall for a scam!"

Upon hearing this, Fitz slapped his forehead, realizing that this might be a big problem.

Especially since Facebook was the first social networking software and no one had any experience with it, if someone acted maliciously at this time, Facebook would definitely suffer as well.

The message was sent quickly, and a dozen seconds later, the tech guy nodded to indicate that it was done.

Fitz sighed: "We're in the process of accumulating new users right now. A large number of new users are flooding in every moment. You'll have to resend this message every hour."

He then looked at Eric and asked, "Boss, is this okay?"

"Could we differentiate between them and only send reminders to newly registered users? Sending multiple reminders to the same user might annoy them."

"Sorry, boss, our backend system isn't that intelligent yet." Fitz shook his head.

After a moment's hesitation, Eric said, "I don't think this method is quite right. How about this: on the Facebook login page, below 'Welcome to Facebook,' we'll add our reminder."

"This interface will pop up as soon as the user logs in again. If people still fall for it, it just means that these people are better off staying at home playing Atari."

Everyone's faces lit up with joy; this was indeed a simple and effortless solution.

"Fitz, there's another feature to develop, which is real-name authentication for public figures, including all current and future public figures who join Facebook."

"Whether it's the political, film and television, music, or fashion circles, as long as users label themselves as public figures, they must be required to undergo information verification."

"After the verification is approved, you can add a prominent suffix to the name, or other methods. You can discuss the specifics."

"Boss, what about regular users?"

"Regular users should also set up an insurance policy. We don't care whether the other party uses a real name or a fake name when registering, but no matter what the reason, once the account is banned, real-name authentication is required to unban it. If it passes the authentication, the account will be unbanned; if it fails, the account will be permanently banned."

Fitz carefully noted Eric's request: "Okay, this feature will be launched along with the Bluetooth plugin."

"Boss, thanks to you for flying over here to oversee things. Even though we've thought of a lot, there are still too many issues we haven't considered."

"Especially when facing such a dangerous emergency, if you are not in charge on-site, everyone will definitely be in chaos."

Eric smiled and said, "We can flatter less and do more. The problems Facebook is facing may also be the problems YouTube and Lionheart will face in the future. Solving them well will benefit everyone."

He then looked at Robert Mirren and Howard Hughes: "Facebook will be quite busy lately, so you can come and help out if necessary."

The two nodded in agreement.

At this point, the data jumped again, breaking through from 38453 to 56123, adding nearly 20,000 new users.

The backend data is set to refresh automatically every ten minutes.

The reason for the data spikes is definitely that more celebrities have joined the platform.

Thank you Luciferhx for the 200-coin reward! You're so generous, Boss!

(End of this chapter)