Commonwealth Club Double Feature: The Facebook Effect and Nick Carr

Kick back for the insider's scoop on Facebook, then find out what the Internet is doing to our brains, for better or worse.

The Facebook Effect
David Kirkpatrick, Journalist; Author, The Facebook Effect
Michael Arrington, Founder and Editor, TechCrunch - Moderator

Kirkpatrick traces the story of the most powerful social networking tool of our day from its humble beginnings to its role as an international phenomenon. The Facebook Effect is the only book written with the full cooperation of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Started only six years ago, Facebook can now claim more than 400 million users and a potential valuation of $100 billion by 2015. Is an IPO forthcoming?

What Is Google Doing to Our Brains?
Nicholas Carr, Author, The Shallows

In conversation with Peter Norvig, Director of Research, Google

Introduction by Josh McHugh, President, Attention Span Media; President, INFORUM Board

Carr writes: "Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski," in his Atlantic Monthly cover story, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" He will share his theory on the Internet as the culprit against civilization's progress, making the case that the Internet has diminished our ability to think deeply.