In UK-based author Dane Cobain’s novel Formerly: The Rise and Fall of Social Network, protagonist Dan Roberts is living in London with his journalist girlfriend, Sarah, and trying to eek out a living as a freelance computer programmer. Dan is passionate about programming, but it’s not exactly doing a lot to pay the bills or pay for the flat he shares with Sarah.
Low on funds, Dan is desperate for a full-time job, so he’s pretty happy to get a steady gig as a programmer with the social media platform Former.ly even though the interview process is less than orthodox (drinking is involved). Former.ly is a website where people can share their innermost secrets, yet, the caveat is that these secrets won’t be made available until the person dies. Yes, Former.ly relies on death. Death is imperative to Former.ly’s success.
Dan has no idea what he’s exactly getting into, but he’s happy to accept a regular paycheck. At the helm of Former.ly are its two founders, John and Peter. John and Peter are at first shrouded in mystery, but it isn’t long before Dan realizes (as do the ready) that both of them have nefarious things in mind. John has a vicious temper and is a total control freak. Peter is also a control freak, but he seems (on the surface) to be more measured than his fellow founder of Former.ly.
Dan’s co-workers include Felicity, who goes by the nickname Flick. Flick works as Former.ly’s office manager/PR girl. Abhi is a fellow coder. Kerry is the media guy who films the people for their video diaries. And later on, comes along Nate who is Former.ly’s custodian, but knows a lot more than he initially lets on, and Elaine who works on the financials of Former.ly. Elaine is a bit of an outlier at Former.ly considering she’s in her fifties and has grandchildren.
It isn’t long before Dan’s job at Former.ly takes over his own life. He’s working ungodly long hours and spending more time with his coworkers than with his beleaguered girlfriend. Dan and Sarah agree to break up; their relationship long past repair.
Former.ly is getting more and more successful, and the founders decide it’s time to go public. After a launch party, one of the journalists dies under very mysterious circumstances. At first Dan and his coworkers think the journalist’s death is just an unfortunate circumstance, but they soon turn suspicious of John and Peter, and the going ons at Former.ly. Yet, at this point their livelihood is of utmost importance. They need their jobs.
John and Peter decide some changes need to be made at Former.ly. They want to move Former.ly from Jolly Old England to Palo Alto, California, one of the epicenters of all things tech. Yes, this means most of the staff of Former.ly have to move to Palo Alto. Moving is never exactly uncomplicated, especially when one is moving to a whole new country. Dan’s fellow coder, Abhi, expresses hesitancy over moving to Palo Alto. He has family in England, and his wife is expecting a baby. But somehow Abhi is supposed to be more committed to Former.ly than his pregnant wife. Abhi never ends up in Palo Alto. Instead, his lifeless body is found in the River Thames. Could it be a tragic coincidence or something far more sinister?
Despite his reluctance, Dan moves to Palo Alto and gets sucked up even more into the high tech world (he ends up driving a Tesla), but he is convinced something completely evil is going on with John and Peter. And he’s committed to get into the crux of what is really happening at Former.ly and Nate, the custodian (and so much more) is along for the ride. Former.ly continues to be riddled with death, break-ins, and lots of other wicked activities. And it doesn’t help the police are getting involved. Will Dan be able to find out what is really going on at Former.ly or will he end up in huge trouble or ever worse, dead?
Former.ly is a fascinating look at tech culture and how it overwhelms the people who work in this very high-stakes world. The mysterious thriller aspect just makes Former.ly so much more interesting, and it has a twist at the end that truly had me shocked. I’m usually not a fan of tech bros, but Dan Roberts is a rather compelling reluctant hero.
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