Subject category:
Strategy and General Management
Published by:
Harvard Business Publishing
Version: 21 January 2020
Length: 34 pages
Data source: Published sources
Abstract
This is a Portuguese version. Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook based on the idea that connecting people was a fundamentally good thing - and a way to turn a handsome profit. But from the beginning, Facebook received criticism both for how it handled user privacy and how it curated user-generated content. These two issues coalesced in the aftermath of the 2016 United States presidential election, after Facebook's role in the spread of political misinformation and the leak of Facebook user data to political consulting firms began to receive significant media coverage. In 2019, Facebook announced it was shifting to a 'digital living room' model that would focus more on private, encrypted conversations and less on sharing viral content. Several important questions remained. Would the digital living room ease users' privacy concerns? Would Facebook still be able to effectively curate content? Would its advertising model still work? Or were financial success and good governance mutually exclusive? This case explores the parameters of governing an internet-based platform.
Location:
Industry:
Size:
> 1 billion; Fortune 500
Other setting(s):
2019
About
Abstract
This is a Portuguese version. Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook based on the idea that connecting people was a fundamentally good thing - and a way to turn a handsome profit. But from the beginning, Facebook received criticism both for how it handled user privacy and how it curated user-generated content. These two issues coalesced in the aftermath of the 2016 United States presidential election, after Facebook's role in the spread of political misinformation and the leak of Facebook user data to political consulting firms began to receive significant media coverage. In 2019, Facebook announced it was shifting to a 'digital living room' model that would focus more on private, encrypted conversations and less on sharing viral content. Several important questions remained. Would the digital living room ease users' privacy concerns? Would Facebook still be able to effectively curate content? Would its advertising model still work? Or were financial success and good governance mutually exclusive? This case explores the parameters of governing an internet-based platform.
Settings
Location:
Industry:
Size:
> 1 billion; Fortune 500
Other setting(s):
2019