On this, he noticed a giant scroll. Hundreds of sheets of paper were glued together and rolled up. "What is it?" He asked. "This is a profile page, Sam Lessin, the" said Mr. Zuckerberg. "He printed it."
Sam Lessin, the designer, the latest recruit Facebook. He wanted to make a remark about his new employer. He printed page after page of his profile is Facebook, enough to stretch the length of the office.
He claimed that the sea of ​​information on changes in the status of the feasts to the happy birthday messages, was actually hidden - all headings of a button on the website under the title "old messages".
His profile was impossible to sift through.
It was a turning point. The leaders decided that even though Facebook was great at helping people communicate with each other, it was awful on the priority that the data for allocating vital (your wedding photos) from the frivolous (thoughts on TV last night).
To solve this problem, Facebook began work on the most radical restructuring in the seven-year history. The changes were announced in September, but in the next few weeks, they will be considered for 800 million Facebook users worldwide.
The company claims that the changes were aimed at improving their experience for users. But the influential financial analysts say it will also give Facebook treasure the personal information that it can be used to make billions in profits.
And the move has forced the leading privacy groups are concerned about the direction that Facebook is taking, to tell The Times, that they would take the company to court.
When a radical change in Facebook was announced at the company's F8 developer conference, Mr. Zuckerberg, the company co-founder and CEO, said: "We believe that this is an important step to help tell the story of his life."
They include the "Timeline", a feature that reconstruction of a profile page that allows people to reveal information about his past, when there was no Facebook, for example, children or the end of the snaps.
There will also be the introduction of "ticker" stream of updates, which tells your friends what you are doing at this very moment.
The ticker is working through a process called "friction of exchange." It is here, if the users consent, they will automatically communicate with your friends. Friends know that you're listening to a track Coldplay, or reading an article about Factor X, or purchase a pair of trainers.
Facebook stresses that the automatic exchange of data will occur only if the users "opt in". They can turn off the system at any time. But experts agree that the changes will lead to people who share more about themselves on Facebook, than ever before.
"If I can tell all your friends what music I listen, I get to see what my friends listen to," said Dan Rose, Facebook, vice president of partnerships and marketing platform. "I get to discover new music. It's a win for me."
Facebook also explains that the changes reflect the next stage in its development, it is the concept of "open graph" - the relationship between people and objects. Originally Facebook was trying to express these relationships with "Like" button, something you clicked if you happy that you have read, hearing or eyesight while surfing the Internet and would like to tell your friends.
"This year we added a verb," ​​said Ethan Beard, director of Facebook developer in a recent speech in London. "I just do not" like "The Godfather, I can actually" watch "The Godfather, or" speed "Godfather".
Facebook says that the head of its mission to make the Web more social and useful to users. But leading analysts have argued that financial considerations may also help explain the metamorphosis.
"The new development will enhance their ability to target audiences," said Nate Elliott, senior research analyst Forrester. "They have this huge amount of data on which marketing can target your advertising."
The company claims that it never sells stocks or personal information to advertisers. Instead, he helps companies focus their goods to the right people.
For example, an advertiser on Facebook can reach people based on their age, sex, residence, hobbies, favorite movies - a huge list of variables. Nevertheless, the system needs of the users voluntarily put information about yourself first.
Facebook insists, however, that none of the recently announced changes to the "open graph" will be used as part of its advertising system. Spokesman added: "We never ruled this out, but our focus is on getting out of Timeline".
The company also explained that she wants people to see relevant advertising - messages that may be useful, but not "billboards on the roadside."
But Mr. Elliott warns: "I think that Facebook users would be reasonable to assume that any information they share on or through Facebook, will eventually be used by the company in some way."
Industry sources say that Facebook is under pressure from investors to improve its advertising system. Revenues facebook, largely by advertising, were $ US1.6 billion ($ A1.57 billion) in the first half of this year.
This compared with $ US800 million a year earlier, but much less than expected by some investors, who value the company at $ 70 billion.
And, despite the amount of time users spend on Facebook, the company is expected to capture only 6.4 percent of total spending on Internet advertising this year, according to eMarketer, a research company.
Facebook said that commercial considerations do not matter, when the company is planning new developments on the site. But Mr. Rose said: "Consumers are increasingly on the Internet and they are on Facebook Of course, we think this is a huge opportunity.".
When it comes to trust Facebook with this repository of our preferences and tastes, not everyone is convinced. In the past few days, reports suggest that the company reached an agreement with U.S. regulators over charges that Facebook mislead its users to use their personal information, the company was forced to submit to an independent audit of privacy for 20 years as a result.
Facebook said that he is well aware of privacy considerations. When managers advertise Timeline, they emphasize the features that allow people the priest his page in fine detail - as part of their profile accessible for a small group of loyal friends, while other parts are made fully public.
These policies are not enough for some. In the UK, caused by the recent moves by Facebook, Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said it would take legal action against Facebook, in light of alleged breaches of confidentiality.
"It's not what we want to take legal action against them, it's just that we were forced into this situation in the company and ineffective regulators," Mr. Davis said. "Facebook continues to see privacy as a burden that can endanger the profit potential."
He added that he spoke to privacy groups in 30 countries, covering USA, Canada and Europe, hoping to take joint action.
Meanwhile, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner - who was asked to look into the company, Facebook, European headquarters in Dublin - began the audit practice of the company.
EU rules provide for the right for people to remove the personal data, held on the Internet. But now all of the information posted on the website is stored on servers Facebook, forever.
In response, Facebook said in a statement: "Facebook is not only fully complies with EU data protection laws, but we also believe that every Facebook user owns their own data, and should have easy access to it."