Bernard Ginns: The phenomenon that has helped to change the world

It was not because I did not have many “friends”, but rather I do not really like the idea of posting personal information online for the world to see.

My departure hasn’t hurt the website one jot. It’s still one of the biggest virtual meeting points in the world, with more than 800 million members.

That’s 12 per cent of the world’s population visiting the website at least once a month to check in and catch up with their friends’ online activity.

In common with most online phenomena, Facebook has exploded into prominence. A decade ago, it didn’t exist. (I wonder how those hundreds of millions of people who visit the site every day managed to communicate without it.)

But wherever you stand on social media, there is no doubt that Facebook and its international army of members have become a force to be reckoned with.

Tax-avoiding multinationals are finding out to their cost the impact that well-orchestrated campaigns on Facebook and Twitter can have, in terms of their reputations for trust and integrity.

Tyrannical governments have lost their grip on power as populations rose up in defiance, thanks in part to the unifying voice that social media websites like Facebook have provided.

It would be no understatement to say that Facebook has helped ferment social, political and economic change. You can understand why China’s leaders are so keen to block access to it.

But what of the man behind the website, its multi-billionaire founder and chief executive, the 27-year-old Mark Zuckerberg?

I put this question to Lord Richard Allan, the public policy director for Facebook in Europe, Middle East and Africa, who was the main speaker at Friday’s latest Yorkshire Post Business Club event.

He told me: “Mark Zuckerberg in real life is a man on a mission.

“He’s built what he thinks is just a truly incredible service and what motivates him and gets him up every day is ‘how do I make that service better and how do I get it to as many people as possible?’

“Things like getting it to a billion people, that’s what he’s excited about.”

According to Lord Allan, Mr Zuckerberg is “not that bothered” about making money. Reports suggest he has a net worth of $17.5bn, making him one of the richest men on the planet.

“People always say that someone who’s got money doesn’t have to worry about money but that really isn’t what’s driving him,” he added.

“What’s driving him is just how cool this thing is that he’s built and wanting other people to use it.”

Hollywood offered a highly entertaining take on the formative years of Facebook in the film The Social Network, which focuses on Zuckerberg’s student days and legal battles with the Winklevoss twins, who founded a rival site at Harvard.

The film paints Zuckerberg as a borderline sociopath. Does it provide an accurate portrayal?

Said Lord Allan: “The film was written from one particular side of one particular part of the Mark Zuckerberg story.

“I would say what’s really interesting is not what happened in the early days about these squabbles between different people in university about setting the site up, but it’s how he went from that to building this enormous business over the next three or four years.

“There are hundreds and thousands of people in universities having these brainstorms; there are very few of them that then go on over four or five years to find the right people to help them to build this enormous world-changing business. That’s interesting.”

Was it luck or design that created a business valued at $50bn?

“I would say it’s design,” said Lord Allan.

“It’s the genius of having an amazing idea, but probably lots of other people having the same idea at the same time.

“But then it’s understanding the elements you need to put in place to deliver that idea. Understanding you may be 23, but maybe you need a couple of 40-year-olds to help develop certain parts of the business.

“You need to put together a whole set of different elements, often to complement your strengths and make up for your weaknesses, in order to build a successful business.

“Understanding that as a twentysomething, understanding those kind of interpersonal dynamics is phenomenal.”

Facebook has assembled a top team of leading corporate talent, foremost among them Sheryl Sandberg, the former Google executive and US Treasury chief of staff.

The peer added. “It’s those kind of people skills plus brilliant technological genius that allow you to create the right environment to build a growing business.”