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Better yet, what mathematics did he specifically use when developing Facebook? It's my understanding that most of the "innovation" that went on involved stealin

by jgg 16y ago

Better yet, what mathematics did he specifically use when developing Facebook? It's my understanding that most of the "innovation" that went on involved stealing someone's code and marketing the end result to a niche community (Ivy Leaguers), and using the reputation gained from that to appeal to the masses. It took people out of the ghetto of MySpace and put them into a pristine, controlled environment. Tortured genius, or lucky asshole with a lot of money? You decide.

davepeck 16y ago
(Having seen the script: the equations determine, based on past user votes, the probability that each of two Harvard girls will be voted "better looking" in a head-to-head match-up.)
- jgg 16y ago
  Huh. A brooding genius that does not make, but at least they didn't throw random math in there for no good reason.
- Groxx 16y ago
  Sounds like puppywar.com could use that equation to pre-determine who the winningest is.
mkramlich 16y ago
Exactly! My impression was that starting Facebook just took some PHP and HTML skills not differential equations and quantum mechanics.
philwelch 16y ago
I remember in the earlyish days of Facebook (after the Ivy League exclusivity ended but before it went outside of colleges) their FAQ page had a snarky response to the question "what graph theory algorithms do you use?" or somesuch.