Facebook fairytales

With nearly 500 million users around the globe, Facebook has given birth to a vast and intricate web of personal connections, bringing people together and transforming lives in unimaginable ways. But what comes of these hundreds of millions of connections? Emily Liebert’s new book, Facebook Fairytales: Modern-Day Miracles to Inspire the Human Spirit is filled with captivating narratives of 25 real-life stories culled from interviews with Facebook users who’ve used the site's many applications to find—for example—an organ donor, biological parents, to relay messages to loved ones during the Mumbai terrorist attacks, and to save a teenager’s life across an ocean. Additionally, Facebook Fairytales features a foreword with the typically press-shy founder & CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, and a subsequent interview with co-founder Chris Hughes, who relays his fascinating story of running Barack Obama’s social media campaign—which the president credits as playing a large role in his victory. Facebook Fairytales was singled out as one of the featured books at this year’s esteemed Frankfurt Book Fair, and Emily Liebert was one of 20 guests of honor—among Elizabeth Kostova, Russell Banks, and Lisa See--at the renowned Literary Feast 2010, a privilege reserved for best-selling and buzz-worthy debut authors. From personal triumphs to business feats to political coups, Facebook Fairytales highlights an intriguing range of modern-day “miracles” made possible by the elaborate domino effect of social networking. It reminds all of us that the resilience of the human spirit is truly powerful, even online.