The Power of One

How I Found the Strength to Tell the Truth and Why I Blew the Whistle on Facebook

By: Frances Haugen

Narrated by: Frances Haugen

Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

The inside story of one woman’s quest to bring transparency and accountability to Big Tech, by the Facebook whistleblower who is determined to help us all retake control of our lives.

In 2021, when news outlets feasted on “the Facebook Files,” Frances Haugen went public as the former employee who blew the whistle on the company by copying tens of thousands of pages of documents. She testified to Congress and spoke to the media. She was hailed at President Biden’s first State of the Union Address. She made sure everyone understood exactly what the documents revealed: Facebook knew it had accidentally changed its algorithm to reward extremism and refused to fix it; it knew that its customers were using the platform to foment violence, to spread falsehoods, to diminish the self-esteem of young women, and more. But how was it that Haugen was the only employee at the company who dared to step forward?

The answer to that question is an inspiring tale of one young woman’s life and the choices she made. From an isolated childhood in Iowa to an unaccredited college, to one among the few women at Google in its heyday, Frances Haugen learned how to focus on what mattered, and to ignore her critics. To harness the strength of standing in the truth.

The Power of One is equally inspiring—the story of a woman who went against the grain, again and again, and changed the world—and horrifying, as the culture and practices of Facebook are brought into the bright light of day, for the first time.

©2023 Frances Haugen (P)2023 Little, Brown & Company

Must read if you use or care about social media!

Spectacular book, details the story of a whistleblower with lots of juicy details and profound insights about the problems of social media and what we as a society and as individuals can do about them. Great reading by the author!

Heroic effort

Documented evidence once again that zuck is a borderline sociopath motivated only by greed. It’s not enough that he has made billions off an idea he stole. He makes his brother Ted Kazinski seem like a prankster.

Should be required reading (or listening) for every

Frances provides an intimate insider look into Facebook’s incredible power, which it recklessly uses in support of its bottom line with no concern for negative downstream effects on society

Thank God for the analytical mind of Frances.

I cried watching Frances give her testimony in front of congress and this book goes into all of it, to give us beautiful context. Thank you! NO ONE has given the people the whole truth besides you thank you. I’m praying for you! I appreciate your integrity and morals. Thank you! This is a satisfying book I couldn’t stop listening. Great book!

It’s an interesting listen, but…

I agree with other reviewers who write that this is a rare peek behind the Facebook curtain from a former employee. But I can’t help feel that every time it seemed we were on the verge of learning some new tidbit of information, the author managed to meander the story into a direction I cared little about. I get it’s a biography of sorts, but I suppose I wanted more details about what actually happens inside these companies. Towards the end the author even says something along the lines of “I’ll spare you the details of [thing XYZ]”, and I caught myself silently yelling, “Please tell us the details of that! That’s what I signed up for!” That seemed to happen too often. Had I known that up front I’d have skipped to around 10 hours in.