Monday 22 October 2018

Week 2 [22-28.10.18] What Should Mark Zuckerberg Do?

Read the article at
https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/what-should-mark-zuckerberg-do
and discuss it here.

22 comments:

  1. Two ideas from the text seem reasonable. Total transparency of how our data is used would be good move. Currently most of the users have no idea what information Facebook collects about us and to whom these data is passed to. Collecting data in order to provide targeted ads is not a bad thing in exchange for access to almost life changing services of Facebook but on the other hand we can't exactly tell if that is the end of a story. Second idea that appeals to me is subscription model where our data is safe. As I mentioned Facebook provides so many services(and could support even more in the future) that most of the users wouldn't be against this model if the price would be reasonable.

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  2. I agree with Bartosz. Although the subscription model seems to be good one to solve the problems which Facebook faces with. For me personally it is weird in some way that there is a problem at all, because before anything else, Facebook shouldn't make such moves which can lead to such problems. The solution is just to be fair, accord to the law and do not lie and deceive customers.

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  3. Signing in anywhere we have to accept that some information about us will be collected. Of course the question is what happens next with those data? Information what they do with them should be obligatory, but who reads that? Idea of subscription model sounds good for me too, however I wouldn’t pay for it, I would rather resign. Facebook doesn’t offer me anything special and will they really assure privacy? I don’t believe in changes, maybe they make image campaign and not more.

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    1. I also don't think that Facebook can assure privacy. Why would they? Harvesting and selling data is the core of their business model. And as we already saw it's an extraordinarily profitable model.

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  4. It's very sad how many people don't realize how manipulated they are on the internet and what happens to what they put online.
    Thankfully people start to educate themselves about the internet and start to realize what dangers it brings.
    That being said, if facebook want to last and not end like myspace or naszaklasa it needs to evolve.
    The proposition made in article is pretty much Spotify business model but Spotity still hasn't generated any profits.
    In my opinion its too soon for such business model to work properly but aparently investors(who sponsor Spotity) think that in near future it will change.
    I would like to see pay for privacy option on facebook or any other website that uses my data.

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    1. I partly agree with Franciszek. I think people just don’t care about information collected by some companies about their opinions, habits and preferences. It’s not a problem with Facebook but with whole our internet. Once in a blue moon or never we are reading ‘regulations’ of privacy policy on pages visited by us in the internet. Even GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation didn’t change anything in EU. Solution for obey this restriction is so simple. If we want to visit site, we have to agree on privacy policy of this site. What’s more, we are in the worse position then previously because now we agreed to collect this data. Why? The reason for this is quite obvious. We are living very fast and we don’t have time to care about things which we don’t see.

      To sum up, I think it’s not a matter of financing Facebook as its owner knows that information is just priceless. Payable subscription model doesn’t suits here…

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    2. I partly agree with Franciszek. I think people just don’t care about information collected by some companies about their opinions, habits and preferences. It’s not a problem with Facebook but with whole our internet. Once in a blue moon or never we are reading ‘regulations’ of privacy policy on pages visited by us in the internet. Even GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation didn’t change anything in EU. Solution for obey this restriction is so simple. If we want to visit site, we have to agree on privacy policy of this site. What’s more, we are in the worse position then previously because now we agreed to collect this data. Why? The reason for this is quite obvious. We are living very fast and we don’t have time to care about things which we don’t see.

      To sum up, I think it’s not a matter of financing Facebook as its owner knows that information is just priceless. Payable subscription model doesn’t suits here…

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    3. Sorry, i have some problem with accout. It wassaid by me - Cezary Piekarczyk S18133 :)

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  5. As my collegues already said- most of the whole socialmedia community is not aware of how the data we're delivering every day is used against us. But the point of the question is what should Zuckerberg do? Total transparency in access to data at some point is a great idea. It would keep most of the users who are afraid of their privacy within platform and I'm willing to assume that some of them will be too lazy to change any privacy settings- the thought that they've got impact on this will be enough.
    At this point I was trying to figure out some negatives but even if some fanpages won't share theirs followers data- it would be minorities because of money from advertisenment. For me it's win-win situation in PR - we let you do this and on the other hand we assume that most of the community won't do it.
    In the end few words about subscription model- for me it won't work, espessialy in such a still-developing country as Poland (and lot's of common ones) because price is still primary-key and most of the people (including myself) won't spend extra cash for socialmedia platform.

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  6. My facebook board is flooded with ads, which means I can not see posts from my friends, so the idea of a paid subscription that will not display ads is very good idea. I think people would use this option, so users could limit meaningless content. There are websites that do not want to place advertisements on their websites, for example Netflix. Their business is good and the number of users is increasing and profits along with them. Maybe Facebook would not receive such revenues as now from advertisements, however its users would be more satisfied with using their app.

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  7. In my opinion, the idea to let user pay for Facebook and decide what will happen with their data is brilliant! I think I would be one of those users who will choose to keep data private. I work in e-marketing company, so I know how it really looks on the inside. The enormity of the data which we process each day is really terrifying. I think we really know a lot about each of you, without having even 1/100 resources such as Facebook. The idea to let user know what exactly happened with their data is good move for user, but not for Facebook. It may happen that some users close their account when they see how their data is being processed. In conclusion, I think Facebook should start from the introduction of the premium version.

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  8. Subscription model won't work in my opinion for sure in Poland as most of us will just delete their accounts. It could also happen in other countries. Anything Mark is going to do will lead to lose of users anyway, those that won't pay and those that won't be happy what's going on with their data. They will probably try to blow it over in time and pretend that they are a big defenders of privacy and still doing the same things.

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  9. It seems reasonable to introduce subscriptions to those interested if someone is very worried about what will happen to his data
    He would be able to analyze it. He would have real control over the data.
    A better solution would also be better data protection because, as more than once, we hear that the theft of information about users is becoming more and more common.

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  10. I think that having paid subscription for Facebook is a way to go. If they have is as an option, not the only way of using the platform. Some users that will not have sufficient monthly income will move on to other platforms. Otherwise they will have to agree to having their data processed, similar as it is today. With paid users they will not receive ads and their data will not be processed.
    Facebook needs to take some steps to not face the problem of users moving to different social media platform. They need to focus on security and making sure that users are aware what they are getting for "free" when they sign up. I think having either monthly subscription or one time payment could really help them to grow.

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  11. The data is not the problem. GDPR does state what is the required level of notification for the people whose data is being collected. It also regulates the ability to opt out of someone collecting the data and the extent in which the data can be used. From my perspective, EU should launch an investigation on how Facebook treats EU natives data and it will all be solved. I don't really care what will happen to the guys in the US. They have their own legislature which is not exactly pro-consumer. Anyway, I don't have a problem with collecting my data. I also have no problem with this data being used to service my requests (in-line with GDPR regulation). My problem with Facebook starts when they share my data with third-parties. Data that they have no interest in having. Data, that they are using without my consent, nor without my request to do anything. There's nothing to do really from my perspective. Just comply with GDPR and all will be well. The real question here is what should EU commission do about Facebook and possible compliance breaches?
    If memory serves me well, fines up to 10 million euro or 2% of worldwide annual profits are possible on the infringement of the provisions of GDPR. That sounds like easy money, maybe we could reinvest those into refugee integration camps, or something?

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  12. In my opinion, the answer isn't clear. If I would have to say about my approach to pay Facebook and decide what will happen with data about me, I would say that is great idea. Becasue for me my priavacy is the most important. But I personally know people who don't have nothing against collecting data about himself and they argue that it doesn't really impact on their live. For such people services like Facebook for free in exchange for data are better alternative.

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  13. There is no guarantee that Mark would not sell data from users that paid for the service. Actually those users are in fact a great data set to process informations about people who cares about their privacy. Why do they care about it? What are they patterns? What do they do daily? So much data to harvest. Even if they will not show ads then those informations can still be sold to different companies. If you really care so much about data privacy than be more thoughtful about what you do and publish in the internet, not only on facebook.

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  14. I think that because of the threat of being prosecuted because of bad data management, Facebook has to think about revitalizing it's company. What's important and said in the article is that Facebook should use paid model for people who want no-ads service, and more data protection. But Facebook is not only a social media platform but also a provider of a great amount of data to other partners. That means that it's just impossible to work in the paid model. Second thing is what will happen when something would leak from the service. A lawsuit? Lawsuit supported by all people who got the paid service. It's ridiculous, and wouldn't happen. I don't have a good answear, it's very complex problem but I feel that Facebook era is gone.

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  15. I use facebook almost everyday nad never actually thought that my data is leaking to somewhere. The funny fact is that it doesn't bother me, why would I care about that? This is just my thought, the greater part of community cares about their data might be sold, used. Of course there are some limits, who would like to have their most sensitive data leaking for example a credit card details? It needs to be respected anyway. The Facebook needs to build people's trust by being authentic. I like the idea of premium version that can be purchased to protect your personal information, I wouldn't buy it anyway. I think that Facebook should consider usage of blockchain technology to enhance the privacy policy. Also people should be aware of what data is being shared and why. They should also have the possibility to have it secured if they wish for it.

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  16. The protection of personal data is extremely important. Everyone should know who use these information, especially in social media, because this type of services are free and it is easy for everyone to share all personal information.
    I think that implementing optional subscriptions is a very good idea.
    People who do not want to share their data for marketing purposes can pay for subscriptions and still use the site.

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  17. Recent affairs of Facebook surely reduced trust in this service, but better prepare, because these topics touch whole internet. ‘If it’s free, then you are the product.’ - Tim Cook said and I totally agree. Facebook can say they change anything, who will believe? Maybe some of millions, but I will not. Big companies say they delete data, time goes by and the data reveals. Internet is not a safe place. If Facebook was a paid service, it would for sure accelerate its fall. People will not pay as much, as the companies. Marketing business is huge.

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  18. The article asks "Should Facebook change it's business model?". To that question there's only one answer that's valid in 2018 - yes. In today time when someone wonders if a change is needed for any business it means that it's been necessary for some time already.

    It's particularly important for those behemoth companies. They are slow to adapt because of their overdeveloped structures. That's the reason for the rise of a startups - agile and ready for change, even the drastic ones.

    In Facebook's case it might've been blinded by its own success. With all the money and an all-valuable resource in form of data we could see it's coming. But who would've predicted it'd hit this hard.

    Now the only thing left is to act decisive since damage control isn't really working in the age of the World Wide Web's society. Facebook's case calls for admittance, reformation and then - hopefully - redemption.

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