F ACEBOOK: ITS’ ABOUT THE MONEYGROUP 7

INTRODUCTION

• Social Networking service launched in February 2004.

• Founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellowHarvard University students

• Facebook Fast Facts:

PROBLEM STATEMENT

QUESTION OF CASE STUDY• 1) Perform an ethical analysis of Facebook.

What is the ethical dilemma presented by this case?

- Advertisers (engage with users based upon the information shared by users such as age, gender, location, education, work history or specific interests)

- Facebook wants the world to be more open and connected because it stands to make more money in that world.

2) What is the relationship of privacy to Facebook’s business model?

- Facebook’s entire business model is based on aggregation and sharing user information

- Give people a free social media platform to use and in turn sell advertising.

- Facebook has massive capabilities to collect, store and analyze data.

- Facebook to sell very targeted advertising

3) Describe the weaknesses of Facebook’s privacy policies and features. What management, organization, and technology factors have contributed to those weaknesses?- lack of communication between Facebook and

its users- Users were not aware that they were able to

control what information was being shared with external parties.

a) Beacon advertising service:- Service served as a way to inform users of

purchases and activities of their friends outside of Facebook

- Problems: 1) Users themselves had to turn off the service to not have their information shared.

- 2) Even when users turned off the service it continued to share their information.

b) News feed:- It was too invasive- Instead of only sharing status updates the

news feed shared additional information such as profile updates, adding new friends, and adding new applications.

4) Will Facebook be able to have a successful business model without invading privacy? Explain your answer. Are there any measures Facebook could take to make this possible?• No, because Facebook as a social networking

website provides people with many kinds of advantages to communicate with others

• Business model intends to generate revenue and profits. As more and more people register the site, the brand image is increasing

• Facebook’s value and growth potential is determined by how effectively it can leverage the personal data is aggregated about its users to attract advertisers

CONCLUSION

Advertising is the mainly revenue of Facebook. Therefore, in my opinion, we don’t think Facebook will be able to have a successful model without invading privacy.