facebook
Table of Contents
Facebook is a popular social networking service, founded by a group of Harvard College roommates in 2004,1) that is run by a company now called Meta Platforms.2) Despite its real-name policy and privacy concerns, it remains an uncomfortably popular social network.
History
The website began as a college-oriented social network in 2004, opened to the general public in 2006, and historically surpassed MySpace in 2008.3) However, they were always haunted by concerns about data privacy,4)5) especially after the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal in the 2010s had reportedly boosted the conservative-aligned Trump 2016 and Vote Leave (Brexit) campaigns.6)
Furthermore, the platform's sheer size has created moderation problems, allowing discriminatory content and misinformation to manifest, escalating the Rohingya genocide7)8)9) and Tigray War.10)11)12)13) By 2022, the platform saw a drop in users14)15) and hired a conservative firm to smear TikTok16)17) as it becomes abundantly clear that Facebook is losing relevance.18)19)20)
Facebook Live
After their pivot to video scandal regarding inflated view counts,21)22) Facebook unveiled a live streaming service on August 5, 2018, originally called “Live for Mentions”23) before it started being rolled out to the general public as “Facebook Live” in 2016.24) Then on June 1, 2018, “Facebook Gaming” was introduced to compete with Twitch and YouTube, then Microsoft shuttered Mixer on July 22, 2020.25)
However, the platform is rather unconventional, since it was obviously designed with Periscope in mind,26) and the live chat is actually a comment section that you have to be logged in to see it move in real time. It doesn't help that the real-name policy remains in effect, but it is kinda funny when the streamer tells some old geezer to keep scrolling because of how the algorithm works.
Evaluation and critique
Unlike most social networking services, Facebook has a strict real-name policy and it doesn't help that their platform is already bad at handling user data. While the real-name system isn't bad in theory, this does force people to act lame, formal, and may worsen social anxiety since all your posts will be tied to your real name. Meanwhile, other platforms simply allow pseudonyms or let you hide your real name.
It's a dying platform. Young people aren't interested in Facebook,27)28)29) and the elderly are being killed off because of their vaccine disinformation30) or end up in these multi-level marketing cults31) for having an interest in essential oils or yoga.32) The company behind Facebook and Instagram recently paid conservative lobbyists to smear TikTok, but it comes off a bit contradictory at times.
Notes
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- In a 2022 study, Facebook was losing the youth to YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat.33)
- Keep track of Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts being billed as TikTok alternatives.
External links
- Facebook - The front page of Facebook.
1)
"33 photos of Facebook's rise from a Harvard dorm room to world domination" (September 18, 2016). Business Insider.
2)
"Facebook is planning to rebrand with a new name" (October 19, 2021). The Verge.
3)
"The Rise and Inglorious Fall of Myspace" (June 22, 2011). Bloomberg.
4)
"Facebook's New Privacy Changes: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" (December 9, 2009). Electronic Frontier Foundation.
5)
"On Facebook, deleting an app doesn’t delete your data from their system" (May 13, 2012). Ars Technica.
6)
"What are the links between Cambridge Analytica and a Brexit campaign group?" (March 21, 2018). Reuters.
7)
"Zuckerberg Was Called Out Over Myanmar Violence. Here’s His Apology." (April 9, 2018). The New York Times.
8)
"U.N. investigator says Facebook provided vast amount of Myanmar war crimes information" (September 12, 2022). Reuters.
10)
"How Facebook Is Stoking a Civil War in Ethiopia" (November 8, 2021). Vice.
11)
"Facebook parent Meta sued for amplifying hate speech and incitement to violence in Ethiopia’s civil war" (December 14, 2022). Fortune.
12)
"Meta accused of ignoring reports on dangerous content" (August 7, 2023). The Verge.
13)
"Meta pressed to compensate war victims amid claims Facebook inflamed Tigray conflict" (November 8, 2023). TechCrunch.
14)
"Facebook Loses Daily Active Users For The First Time – Here’s Where They're Going" (February 3, 2022). Forbes.
15)
"Facebook scrambles to escape stock’s death spiral as users flee, sales drop" (September 30, 2022). CNBC.
16)
"Facebook paid GOP firm to malign TikTok" (March 20, 2022). The Washington Post.
17)
"Facebook resorts to old smear tactics against TikTok" (March 20, 2022). Associated Press.
21)
"Facebook may have knowingly inflated its video metrics for over a year" (October 17, 2018). The Verge.
22)
"Facebook knew ad metrics were inflated, but ignored the problem to make more money, lawsuit claims" (February 18, 2021). CNBC.
24)
"Facebook Takes On Periscope By Giving Live Streaming To All U.S. iPhoners" (January 28, 2016). TechCrunch.
25)
"Microsoft is shutting down Mixer and partnering with Facebook Gaming" (June 22, 2020). The Verge.
26)
"Facebook Launches “Live” Streaming Video Feature, But Only For Celebrities" (August 5, 2015). TechCrunch.
30)
"Factchecks and fake news – but Facebook still let them post" (February 28, 2021). The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
31)
"This Will Change Your Life" (October 28, 2020). The Atlantic.
33)
"Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022" (August 10, 2022). Pew Research Institute.
34)
"Meta to cut another 10,000 jobs and cancel ‘low priority projects’" (March 14, 2023). TechCrunch.
35)
"Metaverse is just VR, admits Meta, as it lobbies against ‘arbitrary’ network fee" (March 23, 2023). TechCrunch.
facebook.txt · Last modified: 2024-04-06 23:37:29 by namelessrumia