The Facebook Experiment

In 2010 with 500 million users, an upcoming movie, and a place in almost every conversation on the planet, Facebook is among the most impactful forces in the world today. Its users spend over 500 billion minutes per month posting everything from what they’re doing to photos of themselves in any situation you can imagine.

Ten months ago, I set off on a journey to discover what I could really do with the internet. In that time, I’ve used the web as my personal assistant to filter what I read each day, to hand pick my groceries and bring them right to my door, to do my laundry for me, and to meet scores of fascinating people. With Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google at my side, I’ve harnessed the web to gain access to private parties all over the globe, to make decisions for me, and to learn more than I’d ever imagined. That experiment has opened doors to everyone from CEOs and political players to models, entrepreneurs, and artists that I wouldn’t have otherwise encountered.

Now, I’m going to see what I can do when I hyper-focus that journey within the walls of Facebook. For the next year, I’m going to stretch my schema of Facebook to do more than I’ve ever thought a social network could do.

Goals:

1. Learn – I spend some part of my day at Vanderbilt exploring the connections between human behavior and design. But, for the most part, that experience takes place in a box. Let’s see what I can learn by turning Facebook’s entire network into an army of teachers.

2. Build Interesting Relationships – There’s something fascinating about every person on the planet. I can’t wait to meet more people in more places than ever before.

3. Reinvent The Way I Interact With Brands – Over the past few days, I’ve gone on a liking binge to connect myself to every brand I use, buy, or recommend. In the next year, I want to explore the ways that Facebook can change the way that people interact with everything from hotels to clothing to laundry detergent.

4. Augment My Physical Life – Facebook doesn’t have to be a world that’s all its own. I’m going to find ways to use Facebook to make myself a better friend, a better entrepreneur, a better student, and ultimately a better me.

Have a suggestion for something you’d like me to explore? Leave it in the comments section below, send me an e-mail (patrick@blenditbetter.com), or find me on Facebook.

• By Patrick Widen

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About The Author

Patrick Widen

Patrick began his career in design at the age of twelve, later starting his design firm, Foozoo Design, while still a senior in high school. In the rebellious years of his youth, he virtually ignored his high school curriculum in favor of pursuing his own academic career in marketing, psychology, and design. 400 books, three companies, and a cocktail of interesting experiences later he opened the doors of Blend to help companies dive into design and create products, services, and experiences that make people smile. When he's not working, Patrick is also student at Vanderbilt where he is exploring the connections between neuroscience, design, marketing, and economics. It is his hope that through these connections he will soon begin to find the answers to the questions that he believes will change the world for the better and make each and every inch of it a better place for the people that live there.