Pop Culture Analysis Paper
What scares Facebook: Privacy and phones
By Mark Milian, CNN. Thu February 2, 2012
The prospectus that Facebook filed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday Feb. 1st included a list of the company’s potential risks, inside financial details and statistics on the website’s growth. The IPO filing is optimistic but there are some issues Facebook shows concern with: the merchandising of user information. If they disclose personal information in an improper way or if hackers access their database, Facebook will face problems. They could also take a hit if its users get overly concerned about the privacy policies, an issue which was mentioned 35 times in the filing. Therefore, Facebook wrote they must avoid having policies related to sharing data which are perceived in a negative way by their users.
Although privacy is a main concern, the other problem which will make Facebook suffer greatly is that if users access more from their mobile phones or ipads to their Facebook accounts through the apps, the advertising industry within Facebook will face problems. Facebook’s apps are the dominant app used in the mobile platforms but when one access to them, one is not exposed to any ads, and therefore, Facebook is literally making no money. This does not mean Facebook doesn’t want the users to use the apps, but they are fearful that if this eventually becomes the way most users access to it, leaving the desktop or laptop access behind, the company will not be able to make money through the ads. This was listed in the IPO filing as a potential risk.
As to the privacy settings, it is a complex issue and I believe that including privacy in the list of concerns in the IPO filing is accurate and correct, given that the privacy Facebook provides to its users is being highly questioned and people now think twice before posting a comment or uploading a photo. The impact of the privacy control is gigantic. If Facebook truly guarantees privacy protection,
By Mark Milian, CNN. Thu February 2, 2012
The prospectus that Facebook filed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday Feb. 1st included a list of the company’s potential risks, inside financial details and statistics on the website’s growth. The IPO filing is optimistic but there are some issues Facebook shows concern with: the merchandising of user information. If they disclose personal information in an improper way or if hackers access their database, Facebook will face problems. They could also take a hit if its users get overly concerned about the privacy policies, an issue which was mentioned 35 times in the filing. Therefore, Facebook wrote they must avoid having policies related to sharing data which are perceived in a negative way by their users.
Although privacy is a main concern, the other problem which will make Facebook suffer greatly is that if users access more from their mobile phones or ipads to their Facebook accounts through the apps, the advertising industry within Facebook will face problems. Facebook’s apps are the dominant app used in the mobile platforms but when one access to them, one is not exposed to any ads, and therefore, Facebook is literally making no money. This does not mean Facebook doesn’t want the users to use the apps, but they are fearful that if this eventually becomes the way most users access to it, leaving the desktop or laptop access behind, the company will not be able to make money through the ads. This was listed in the IPO filing as a potential risk.
As to the privacy settings, it is a complex issue and I believe that including privacy in the list of concerns in the IPO filing is accurate and correct, given that the privacy Facebook provides to its users is being highly questioned and people now think twice before posting a comment or uploading a photo. The impact of the privacy control is gigantic. If Facebook truly guarantees privacy protection,