In middle school I built a system based on hacked message boards and content management systems for students to share notes and study online (mostly the night before tests).
Before it got 'big', I was working on it during lunch when a media specialist saw the web page and logo and asked what it was. I thought I was screwed.
But I was at a small private school and next thing I knew, the head of the middle school was telling my entire grade about it. Then it grew. I learned a ton in middle school, I had my best study skills ever because I was preparing content for the web, interacting about the content, and managing the site. At one point I had a science teacher logging on before tests and helping students. Eventually I won first place at a state technology fair.
But the site was always confined to my middle school.
The following summer I wrote pages upon pages of planning, figuring out how we could convince schools to buy licensing, how we (2 friends and I) would monetize it, grow it. But we all went to different high schools and my public high school instantly gave me signals it would not be tolerated.
I could get into a big long debate about my views on the "honor code" but my point about this story is that I am sure there were lots of localized "Facebook"s around. What Mark did well in my view is that he took it beyond his local, beyond Harvard, and he did so exceptionally well. At least better than I, a high school freshman did.
every geek in school built some kind of forum and cms mix for students. However, few of them really get big and go out of their own school. That is nothing revolutionary, all about execution...
