Challenges in Giving the Voice to Billions of Peoples: The Case of Facebook

Abstract

It is known that the economic viability of every social platform is built on a simple formula: Attract users and hold their attention as long as possible so personal information can be collected that will fuel targeted adverts. This is achieved through the look and feel formula. This move can be viewed in any projects initiated by Facebook. In response, countries around the world are developing policies to deal with the pressure coming from these social media companies. The consequence is that, if a policy reduces dwell time, it will keep the company from attaining its never-ending goal of increasing quarterly profits. In fact, nearly every Facebook problem can somehow be connected to this simple economic truth. Dwell time increases through provocative posts and adverts over dull ones. Dwell time will be enhanced through cunning psychological manipulators who make the viewers addicted, over authentic and well-researched news stories. This article aims to develop some challenges faced by the company Facebook in giving the voice to billions, and what has been the company strategy to deal with all these challenges.

Keywords: Facebook, economic dynamism, social media