The term ‘Facebook’ is known to many. In fact, considering the fact that over half the world’s population is seemingly owned by the company, one may naturally make that assumption.
Now, why would I say something like that, you ask? Why would I, a perfectly normal seventeen-year-old male, one that uses social media just as much as any other teenager out there, say this?
The answer to that is rather simple. The answer is (and I freely admit it) that the corporation Facebook basically owns my online social presence. From Instagram to WhatsApp, my presence on the web is in the hands of the esteemed Mark Zuckerberg: A man who while socially incompetent, is nothing short of brilliant when it comes to controlling this organisation that he so graciously inherited through little to no imaginative work of his own.
Recent news states that Facebook aims at monopolising the messaging service market, and the plans being made by the organisation further serve to showcase this. Statements from the Economic Times state that firms previously acquired by Zuckerberg, primarily WhatsApp and Instagram, are to be merged at their base levels by essentially rooting their messaging services into a combined thread: an action that could lead to the company acquiring greater market shares whilst also inheriting the revenue and consumer shares of its procured corporations. Right now, the manner in which the company operates with these services is oligopolistic, allowing its acquired firms to run independent from Facebook: functioning and procuring revenue almost autonomously.
This move could be a direct result of the fact that, at this stage, despite owning majority of the shares within this particular market, the company still faces competition from a small number of opposing firms. By monopolising the social media scene, Facebook would ensure the removal of these close substitute services in the form of rival corporations, thus limiting competition and creating a pseudo-empire for themselves.
Now, what we can gather from all this, essentially, is that Zuckerberg is attempting to assert his control over the company’s divisions. This comes at a period wherein its business has been affected by scandal: (Accusations related to the unfair nature of the most recent American Presidential Elections). By unifying independent messaging services, we may assume that the executive aims at luring in consumers with the promise of convenience, employing product differentiation in a competitive market, increasing usage and shares. Sources also suggest the possibility of Facebook attempting to negate competition, examples seen in the form of Apple and Google messaging softwares.
All this information boils down to one primary primary fact: Facebook is gaining immense control over the social media market. Now, how does this effect you and me? Let me put it this way. If things continue heading the same direction as they are currently, Zuckerberg and his army of minions are going to make unknowing slaves of us all. Imagine this: one firm owns all your information, all your records and communication, all your privacy-and you have no choice in the matter. You cannot choose who and what possesses that information.
Before I end this, I'd like to make one thing clear: I’m not writing this to get you to boycott social media as a whole. Even I know the power and convenience it grants the consumer, its advantages and the freedom it grants us. But what we need to get through our heads is that there is a single firm growing in influence at an alarming rate, and we've got to be careful with what we do and do not put on the web. What we need to do is ensure that the tool we use to display our Freedom, voice our opinions and thoughts, does not make slaves of us all. All we need to do is make sure what we put up online, or post on a public forum isn't something we might regret doing later.
Because what’s sent, once sent, cannot be unsent. Not really.
Does that make sense?
