SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Fifteen years after its founding,
Facebook has made strides toward Mark Zuckerberg’s goal of connecting the
world. But it has also made some huge missteps that have turned some of its
cheerleaders into vocal detractors.
The online social network founded on February 4, 2004 in Zuckerberg’s
Harvard University dorm heads into adolescence with the grown-up burdens of
being held accountable for its behavior and playing in a world where people
may not always have the purest intentions.
Facebook has seen unprecedented success by amassing more than 2.3 billion
people worldwide who actively use the platform to share updates, obtain
information and connect with new people.
But it has also been battered by criticism that it was more focused on
growth than protecting users or thwarting deception, bullying and harassment.
“This is a very powerful company that has created an addictive product that
many people are dependent on,” said author and analyst Josh Bernoff.
“Because of that, there is tremendous responsibility.”
Facebook was hammered last year by a series of scandals over data
protection and privacy and concerns that the leading social network had been
manipulated by foreign interests for political purposes.
It has faced increasing scrutiny on how it collects vast amounts of
personal data from users, and how it shares that information with partners to
deliver targeted advertising.
– ‘Confronting maturity’ –
“After the challenges of 2018, it is no longer lauded for its innovation.
It is scrutinized and criticized for its every move,” eMarketer principal
analyst Debra Aho Williamson said.
“Facebook at age 15 is confronting maturity. It’s no longer just an upstart
company.”
Facebook is second only to colossus Google in worldwide digital ad revenue
and is the owner of some of the most widely used smartphone apps.
The platform is behind free, stand-alone smartphone apps Instagram,
Messenger and WhatsApp, each of which has more than a billion users.
Zuckerberg, 34, recently renewed his defense of the social network’s
business model, adamant that Facebook did not sell user data.
He maintained that the social network makes money from targeting ads based
on what it learns about users, keeping the service free.
Bernoff saw Zuckerberg’s latest defense as contending that Facebook is here
to help people, and thus can be trusted.
“We have learned in capitalism that when companies get a lot of power and
say they are doing what is best for you, we need to scrutinize them more,”
Bernoff said.
If history is an indicator, then Facebook’s true threat could be a
lifestyle shift to a different way of interacting with computers.
Bernoff questioned whether Facebook was positioning itself for the rise of
smart speakers using the likes of Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
“The future is going to be increasingly related to voice, and to companies
and individuals interacting through artificially intelligent agents,” Bernoff
said.
“As people change the way they interact with the world, there is no
guarantee Facebook will have a place there.”
He doubted whether people would turn away from Facebook due to trust
issues, arguing that consumers are willing to trade a huge amount of data for
a modicum of convenience.
Despite the wave of scandals, Facebook took in a record $22 billion profit
for 2018 as revenues surged to $55 billion.
– Motivated trolls –
Facebook has acknowledged it needs to do more to restore trust, and ferret
out misinformation and abuse.
It now has more than 30,000 people “working on safety” and invests billions
of dollars in security, according to Zuckerberg.
“The trolls have a financial incentive to pervert the way Facebook works,
and it is costly for Facebook to prevent that,” Bernoff said.
And while Zuckerberg has connected the developed world, there is a lot of
the planet he has yet to get onto the social network.
According to eMarketer, 46.7 percent of internet users, or slightly more
than 23 percent of the world’s total population, use the core Facebook app
any given month.
“Facebook will need to make international growth a bigger priority this
year and in the coming years,” Williamson said.
Facebook also needs to be a leader in undermining manipulation and fake
news, protecting user data and keeping up with consumers’ changing
communications preferences, according to the analyst.
Zuckerberg’s personal goal for 2019 is to convene a series of public forums
on how technology can better serve society.
“I’m going to put myself out there more than I’ve been comfortable with and
engage more in some of these debates about the future, the tradeoffs we face,
and where we want to go,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post outlining his
goals.