Critical internet analysis and a ecosystem map Media Essay

Critical Internet Analysis and an Ecosystem Map
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Critical Internet Analysis and an Ecosystem Map
Introduction
Facebook is one of the most popular and profitable social networking sites in the world. The platform offers users the chance to connect and share moments with their friends and family members. Since its inception, the platform has connected billions of users all over the world with long lost friends and family members. Schoolmates have been able to organize reunions because of it, and other groups have been reconnected as well. It is crucial to note that Facebook has also helped people overcome or break the geographical barriers that existed before. Building networks with individuals from other countries was made incredibly easy by Facebook. The connectivity this platform offers is one that will forever make it relevant in the lives of its more than a billion users.
As a company operating in the tech world, Facebook has also helped to greatly contribute to some of the major developments enjoyed by other organizations today. Finley (2019) writes that organizations such as Netflix and Uber have made use of technologies that have been developed by Facebook. One of the ways Facebook changed the tech industry is by coming up with technological capabilities to help deal with the large amounts of data it was collecting. Finley continues to indicate that Facebook was forced to create software and hardware tools for its data centers. However, instead of hoarding these tools, Facebook released them as open source. Many companies have contributed greatly to the tech world through the open-source environment. Because of its approach to technology, many of Facebook’s “technologies have become industry standards.” Finley (2019) writes that Facebook has “played a tremendous role in shifting not only in the way we build our servers, but also how we write code for browsers and phones.” Through its open-source efforts, Facebook continues to enhance the tech world and thus becoming a major player in the tech industry and one that will remain relevant for years to come.
Historical Development
The history of Facebook has always been controversial. However, the common denominator has always been Mark Zuckerberg. In spite of the many stories about Facebook and how it started, everyone agrees that it was Zuckerberg behind the idea or who put the idea together. Facebook started as The Facebook, which in 2004 was a social media website that sought to connect Harvard students. However, in a matter of days, thousands of students had already registered. Slowly, the website spread to other schools in Boston and eventually to other Ivy League schools. It is not known if the vision or idea was there from the start, but regardless of that, Zuckerberg has managed to grow the company further and beyond what any of the founders could have imagined.
Growth before IPO
Before going public, Facebook had experienced tremendous growth. The company had shown promise, and with more than a billion users already by 2012, the tech giant had showcased a lot of strength. Before it went public, the company was valued at $77 billion. Dembosky (2012) writes that those who knew the company valued it at “between $75 billion and $100 billion.” Before its IPO, its net income was at $205 million, revenue was at $1.06 billion, and “growth slowed from 55 per cent…to 45 per cent.” All the above happened before the popular IPO of 2012, which was quite a flop, and lost many people a lot of money.
Post-IPO growth
After a rocky start, Facebook has been able to turn things around and made great strides towards becoming one of the largest tech firms in the world. By market capitalization, Facebook is in the top five, trailing Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet. When the company went public, its shares were priced at $38 apiece. However, as of 12th November 2020, its shares are priced $275.08 apiece. The growth has been immense, with revenue said to be more than $70 billion. The sky appears to be the limit for Mark Zuckerberg, and the company will continue to grow even further.
Mergers
As it has continued to grow, Facebook has expanded and gone ahead to acquire and merge with other entities to help increase its reach globally. Shead (2019) notes that Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 for $1 billion and $19 billion, respectively. He continues to write that in App Annie’s list, Facebook owns four of the most downloaded apps in the world. The acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp propelled Facebook to greater heights as it controlled a significant percentage of the world’s social interactions. People have complained that Facebook has a data monopoly because of these acquisitions, but the company continues to make such moves every other year. While these two may have been some of the most popular, others include CTRL-labs, Oculus VR, Atlas Advertiser Suite, among others. All these have helped push the company to greater heights of development.
Venture capital
When companies reach the growth heights of Facebook, they begin to show interest in startup companies that have the potential for long-term growth. Having had a humble start and been helped by the belief of investors, Facebook is in the process of setting up a multimillion-dollar venture capital fund to invest in startups. Niu (2020) writes that like its counterparts in the tech world, Facebook is setting up a venture capital arm. It is being reported that Facebook has been “scooping up tech investing talent to lead a new fund that will be part of its New Product Experimentation team” (Niu, 2020). It is indeed surprising that it took Facebook this long to get into venture capital. However, much should be expected from this tech giant.
Business Model
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Impact on society
Economic impact
Facebook employs 44,492 people directly CITATION Cle20 \l 1033 (Clement, 2020) and millions more indirectly. Facebook has a team of engineers, developers, managers, etc. In its headquarters. The CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has become one of the world’s richest men through the company. Facebook also employs more people indirectly as content regulators. These menial jobs are usually through agencies that are contracted by Facebook, and some of them are overseas. Secondly, Facebook created a platform for people to earn income. Today, there is a new career path known as social media marketing. Though social media marketers’ expertise cuts across the social media industry, they indirectly earn from Facebook. There is a new job or career as a social media expert for businesses and corporates to help run their social media accounts. Social media influencers are also indirectly employed by Facebook and the other players in the industry. Social media influencers are the people who have accounts with a big following, and they charge businesses to allow them to post their products on their social media accounts. Facebook has been a key player in developing new career paths, especially for the younger people ...