A stone-colored patch of pavement with the words "HACK" painted on the ground can escape notice on first glance, at least to observers on the ground. However, since the campus is in the flight path of most inbound flights to SFO, the words can be easily read from the sky and subtly signal to passengers the inhabitants of the sprawl of buildings. Inside, employees sat with their laptops in the large rooms filled with desks that are circled together in team pods. Teams focus on a range of either dilemmas or social media necessities, from Social Security to General Counsel to terrorism and Bully Protection. But there are no offices because Facebook employees believe in collaboration without being in assigned, confined spaces. “We aim to be open and connected, which is a simple, but lofty goal,” said Krista Kobeski, Associate Manager of Facebook Public Policy.
If engineers experience a problem with the website, they are given the task and leniency to fix it themselves without going through a hierarchy first. Such a philosophy gives a lot of power to all employees, and with such power comes a greater sense of pride with being trusted with keys to the social network’s operation.
Food also seemed to be an inherit part of working at the social media giant. Two expansive cafeterias were positioned across campus and provided the main meals to all employees. Right outside of the conference room sat one of these mini-kitchens and what looked like an average vending machine. After we raided most of the snacks for journalistic purposes, we learned that the vending machine we came upon wasn’t what it seemed: it fulfills most IT hardware needs. Instead of having a dedicated department to provide these products, employees can swipe their company card and the machine will dispense any needed accessory. Headphones, keyboards, mice, iPod cords, adapters, and many others are all free of charge, even though the prices are listed to prompt some moral responsibility for goods.