Of course: for one, Facebook has pushed the boundaries of what we accept in terms of privacy. They have changed the behaviour of the whole world (not single-handed, but they have really pushed). Their 3 steps forward, 1 step back approach to pushing new features works because they create products people want but don't necessarily understand straight off the bat.

Facebook surely would not be attracting the best developers, when Google offers more money, if they weren't at the cutting edge.