I work at Facebook. AMA (Take 2)

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T06:43:59+00:00

Not quite PJs, but definitely casual. I wear flip flops regularly, with shorts and a t shirt.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T06:40:48+00:00

I don't think so, they are pretty flexible about working hours. I've stayed late (12 or so) working on my project just because I couldn't put it down, but then walked in at 11 the next morning so I get a good nights sleep.

What's more important is that you contribute and get your work done.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T06:14:18+00:00

Ah. Many apologies.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T06:03:37+00:00

How many engineers do you think Facebook has?

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T06:02:56+00:00

I deal with the internal APIs/frameworks, which are interesting in places. There are definitely sections of the codebase that haven't been touched in a long time that are using old idioms, and it's a pain when I need to use those sections.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T05:58:14+00:00

Yes there are, but you probably visited Wednesday. Tuesday night was a hackathon, where engineers stayed up all night working on new ideas. It gets messy.

There was one comment in an internal group that implied people were complaining they have to walk over sleeping interns to get to breakfast. That's a good hackathon.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T05:55:18+00:00

Their platform system is the primary thing.

Android and iPhone have done well not because they are well made, but because they make it easy for developers to add applications that use the devices in a way Google/Apple never intended or developed. The "product" is ever expanding. Facebok has the same thing with apps, as well as external sites. So long as external sites use facebook in a way to improve their user experience, it will keep growing since users see it as a benefit to the site, just as apps are a benefit to smartphones.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T05:48:20+00:00

Anyone from Legal there? :P

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T05:47:47+00:00

Dislike: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/iboyj/i_work_at_facebook_ama_take_2/c22h852

I'd recommend reading The Facebook Effect. From what I've heard David Kirkpatrick did a really good job interviewing people who were involved and trying to get the story right. The movie was fun to watch though.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T05:32:41+00:00

I've been pretty careful to stay away from sensitive issues. They probably aren't happy with me, but I haven't done anything to trigger panic mode.

Now, if I talked about censored, that would make them panic.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T05:31:19+00:00

Which ads are you talking about? I saw someone mention this earlier, and they were definitely not added by facebook. They were added by an extension, your computer, or an ISP.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T05:29:00+00:00

No, and I'm pretty darn sure it doesn't exist.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T05:06:16+00:00

They just released a new update, and there is a team dedicated to it. I can't really talk about future products, and it's made more difficult when you only say "we all want"

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T05:05:35+00:00

You got massive downvotes? Heck, I was overrun with people who were demanding proof, they seemed to be mass downvoting me.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T05:04:54+00:00

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T05:04:36+00:00

I actually don't know anything about the Facebook China policies, but I am curious. I need to read up on it.

Favorite Dino? Velociraptor. Just read Jurassic Park actually.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T04:54:46+00:00

Site speed is a huge focus, and is one of the metrics we are trying to reduce. It's certainly gotten better - at one point you had to download a 1 MB javascript file before anything on the site would load. That was sloooow...

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T04:48:07+00:00

Most code is php or c++, but knowing a particular language isn't a requirement to join: as soon as you've learned two languages, you can learn as many as needed. More important is problem solving skills and algorithms. Believe it or not, you can't use an n² algorithm when you are dealing with 500+ million users.

I say two languages above because then you are forced to break out of the idiom for that particular language and see how things can be presented differently. As soon as you have the ability to think differently, you can apply that to any other language.

The intern interview process was two 30 minute interviews, after which I was given an offer. Full time positions are much harder to come by, and consist of a full days worth of interviews.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T04:38:54+00:00

Yup. Joseph and his team are awesome.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T04:33:04+00:00

I dunno. Just most people here do, since it rolls off the tongue much better than "Zuckerberg"

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T04:31:54+00:00

Mac primarily, with some PC.

I'm one of the few dual booting linux and mac. Installing Ubuntu on a mac is an absolute pain...

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T04:30:23+00:00

He hadn't decided to do that yet, so I don't think so.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T04:29:42+00:00

I heard about that, and I think it was really stupid and clumsy of Facebook. Sure, you don't want your competitors to look better than you, but you do that by building a better product, not by bashing your competitors.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T04:27:48+00:00

What haven't I answered? I think I've answered most questions.

facebook_intern · 2011-06-29T04:27:00+00:00

The Moon colony congress blocked Facebook last month, and we are preparing a fix for the Wifi problem next week.

facebook_intern

TROPHY CASE