Facebook on "60 Minutes"
For those that might have missed the interview last night, below is the entire interview and then some clips that did not make the final cut (via AllThingsD). Overall, I thought the interview was "ok". If the intent was to provide an overview of Facebook and explain it to an audience that might be largely unfamiliar with the phenomena, then that expectation was probably met. But there were a lot of topical areas that could have been covered more thoroughly with perhaps some more critical analysis of the broader trends related to social network sites. I was expecting some discussion of digital media, social sites and youth for instance. The Beacon issue should have been handled more aggressively. The "Scoblegate" flap also would have been a good topic to flesh out. How Facebook is used as a swarming vehicle for social causes of all sorts would have been interesting to learn about. And interviews with business leaders on Facebook and what it means to them in terms of hiring trends and shifting workforce demographics would have been another option to pursue. Even a comparison to Myspace and the issue of possible class divisions would have been a worthwhile topic to explore. Maybe there will be another session down the road, or one of the other news shows (20/20 or Dateline) will follow-up in some way.
For those who missed it, here is the entire video of the piece CBS’ “60 Minutes” aired on Facebook last night, helmed by veteran correspondent Lesley Stahl.
Facebook: The Entire “60 Minutes” Segment | Kara Swisher | BoomTown | AllThingsD
Here are two clips of the much longer interview I did with Lesley Stahl of CBS’ “60 Minutes” for their piece on Facebook, which did not appear on the program last night. They are a bit tougher on the company, although I think they are also quite fair (paging Brandee Barker: That’s right, fair!).
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