After the Big Bang the universe began to expand. There’s a possibility that once it reaches the limits of its expansion it will start to shrink, turn into a black hole and there will be nothing. Literally.

Will the same scenario hold true for Facebook? Are there limits to its capacity? Will it ultimately implode and be crushed into oblivion? Or is there hope?

Check out what’s coming and learn about some interesting analogies between how neural networks in the brain develop and how social networks do: “Is Facebook Too Big to Survive?”

Glossary

• flame out – to fail esp. so that everyone can see it
• in a slump – in a period of low economic activity
• venerable prodigy – respectable genius
• indulge in something – enjoy the pleasure of something
• forge a connection – to create a connection. Forging literally refers to creating/shaping metal objects by heating metal and hammering it. So if you forge a connection it’s a strong one!
• equilibrium – balance
• put the kibosh on something – put an end to something
• yield – here: produce something
• cull – here: reduce selectively
• unwieldy – difficult to manage
• fluff – here: some superfluous elements of no real value. However, if an animal or toy is fluffy it is soft, nice to the touch and generally huggable!

Think about it

Based on the text answer the following questions. Leave your answers in the comments below!

1. What are some apparent reasons behind Facebook’s bad economic outlook?
2. Does the author think much of Andrew Ross Sorkin? How do you know?
3. What are the similarities between the growth of the brain and Facebook? What are the differences?
4. How do people usually react when they find themselves in a network that is too large?
5. Look at the last paragraph and explain the following statement: “facebook has made some strides on this score.”

Practice makes perfect

In the sentences below replace the phrases in bold with the expressions from the original text. Leave your answers in the comments below!

1. Facebook became a public company just three months ago and its shares cost $38 at the outset.
2. When the brain ceases to grow and reaches balance, it becomes smarter.
3. To be fair, Facebook has attempted to put a limit on the unrestrained growth of its network.
4. The brain cuts away its vulnerable points regularly and removes errant neurons in a natural process called cellular suicide. Irrelevant information is filtered out and important connections become deeper.

Use the words in brackets to make the correct form of the missing word. Leave your answers in the comments below!

1. Mark is pretty _______________ (source) – he invented a time machine.
2. The company came under scrutiny from the authorities after revealing some financial ___________________ (regular).
3. You need to _________________ (strong) the password if you don’t want the database to be easily broken into.
4. I’ve just been ________________ (notification) that the guests have arrived.
5. Thanks to social networks it’s much easier to _____________ (friend) many interesting people.

Explore it more

• What is “brain science 101”? Urban Dictionary will help you understand slang and informal language.
• Is there a difference between “few” and “a few”? Yes, there is…
• What is “kibosh”? Nobody seems to know…
• Music from the movie “The Social Network” by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Share your thoughts

We’d love to hear your voice!  Leave your comment below and tell us what you think! You are more than welcome to use the newly learnt vocabulary in your comments.

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