The value Zuck created has nothing to do with PHP or MySpace, it is the billion people who check Facebook each month and spend tens of billions of hours on the site. The value is provided to the network of users and to advertisers who want to reach that audience.

The market shifted from radio, newspaper and television to web advertising. 20 years ago the $500M that Zuck donated would have otherwise went to an aristocratic media owning family empire. I prefer it going to somebody who has created new value and who will be putting the money to better use. Simply spending and gifting the money is a better use than hoarding it and establishing a genetic dynasty.

The argument about Facebook being a weapon against human development and integrity is the same argument that luddites (and the Amish) made against radio, television, the telephone and many other new inventions.

95% of the people that I know in my life, and 100% of the career moves I have made in my life were through people that I met online. The difference is that I was technical enough to know how to use IRC, how to use early blogs, etc. Facebook is simple and accessible, and allows the other 99% of the world population to take advantage of the same networking technology to enhance their lives.

I found Facebook useful for finding my roommates and classmates during college. They took away the classmate finding feature, but then it became more accessible and my grandparents could use it. I just used it a moment ago to get my cousin's birthday.

That's a lot of value to me. When I share something there, it has the broadest reach of real-world friends on any social network, but that's my personal experience.

Facebook is not a weapon. It's a product, definitely, and a medium to some degree. A corporate and focused vision of the internet, sure.

A weapon? No.

You might consider Facebook as a weapon and a destructive force, but don't state it as a fact.

As far as streaming facial recognition data to various agencies - source? Do they comply with various legal orders? Most definitely. Do they send all of their data to police agencies? I highly doubt it.

Did you really just set the IPO price as your baseline for wealth? I have news for you, the IPO wasn't 0, it was $104bil. Still quite a bit of wealth.

$27.71 above foundation. Yes, that's a lot of wealth.

The arabic ones during their recent revolutions. It did not directly spread democracy, but one could argue it contributed to it.