Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal
By Ben Mezrich
Anchor Books, 272 pp.

The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World
By David Kirkpatrick
Simon & Schuster, 384 pp.

Information-intensive companies such as Facebook follow a Machiavellian public relations strategy when introducing new programs. Without warning, these companies introduce "features" that invariably result in more information being shared with advertisers, wait for a negative reaction, and then announce minimal changes without affecting the new feature. They explain away the...