By Ines Schnazi
Standing against the wall, in that tiny, narrow, hallway, I can literally smell the rush of anticipation, excitement, and anxiety, floating in the air.
I feel as though I’m at a concert, awaiting one of my favorite bands, sharing the crowded space, as any dedicated fan would. My body slammed against all the other hopeful appreciators.
Yet the funny thing is, I am not at a concert. It’s 10 AM on a Sao Paulo Tuesday. I am standing in a crowded hallway at FGV (one of Brazil’s most prestigious Universities). This crowd isn’t waiting for a rock star, a movie star, or even a well-known scholar or author.
We are all waiting for Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO and founder, of Facebook, who is speaking at FGV (and the talk is exclusively reserved for FGV students and alumni).
By the time I finally get to the cramped hallway on the fourth floor, I’ve somehow managed to talk my way through a couple security desks, guest lists, phone calls, and event coordinators.
This hallway is where it all happens. It’s a rite of passage. A meeting point, a waiting point, and the only way to get to Zuckerberg.
So I wait. I observe. A middle-aged coordinator, logs into her “Facebook,” account, and seems to be typing some sort of message. I can’t help but wonder if she’s trying to get in touch with Zuckerberg. Suddenly, people start pouring in, and a huge line of ticketless but desperate individuals forms right behind me.
The facebook team scampers about. You can easily recognize them. They are all so young. They all look like my friends. But their fresh youthfulness contrasts quite sharply with their extremely professional stance. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much energy stuck to a blackberry.
Older people seem almost out of place here. Sure, there are the coordinators and the University Professors. But one gets the feeling that on this Tuesday morning, it’s really all about the “twenty somethings.”
I almost don’t get in. And then I do. Just as I walk into the room, Zuckerberg makes his way to the podium. I believe his first word to the audience is simply “Hey.”
I’m instantly intrigued. I imagined a nerd. A socially awkward sort of guy, and instead Mark is charming, funny, charismatic, and of course extremely intelligent. He speaks with enthusiasm, making jokes, clearly at ease with himself and the audience.
I look up at this redheaded, 25 year old, “kid,” (I feel alright calling him a “kid” since I am one myself), wearing jeans, and a black t-shirt. He has managed to captivate an audience full of people at least double or triple his age, in a matter of seconds. He has also managed to captivate the world.
For a second I can only think how surreal this whole situation is. It completely reverses the traditional roles of the “young” and the “old.” Once, when my little brother was about 4 years old, he tried to avoid punishment, by warning my parents that they better “be nice to him,” because someday, the roles would be reversed, and he would “parent” them. Seeing Zuckerberg literally “teach” a room full of gray-haired adults reminds me of my brother’s words.
I’m surprised that Zuckerberg is so social and spontaneous. After all, a lot of people use Facebook, as though it were a substitute for “real life” interaction. So I always pictured the creator as someone who didn’t do so well with “face-to-face” interactions and clung to the virtual world. Obviously this isn’t the case at all.
Mark explains how his mission is to connect people, and to encourage and enable the sharing of information. He insists on the fact that Facebook allows you to have “control” over your image, as you can constantly monitor and edit your privacy settings, thus having the final say over who gets to see what.
He argues that Facebook is different from all those other social networking sites. Unlike other sites, it’s really about presenting yourself as you are (using your real name, your real picture, etc), and (for the most part) connecting with people you already know.
Perhaps what truly makes Facebook unique, is the fact that its constant evolution is mostly propelled by users themselves. Facebook users can also be creators, as Zuckerberg has made it possible for anybody to create “applications.” This extremely “interactive” and “collaborative” approach does indeed set the site apart, actually allowing users to mold the site to their own needs, instead of the other way around.
Zuckerberg’s eyes sparkle with electrical intensity, when he tells the audience, “I’m a builder.” At that instant, it’s impossible not to feel his passion. He talks about the little dorm room where it all started. I imagine him, and his two roommates, cramped under bunk beds, amidst the chaos and messiness that is by definition, a “college dorm room.” Hunched over their blueprint, in between “Computer Science” and “Psychology” classes, completely oblivious to the extremely bright future ahead of them. A Harvard dropout turned founder and CEO of Facebook. Now that’s a modern fairy tale. Seeing Zuckerberg in the flesh proves that fairy tales sometimes really do come true.
