Complex Analysis of Facebook - Essay Example

Introduction Social networks have been a major part of the internet and have had a massive impact on internet users. Attracting a high number of people to become internet users is one of its effects. Social networks are an enormous area of the World Wide Web which is usually targeted for people looking for ways of communicating through different modes. Social networks operate by providing a wide range of selected ways to their users which make it easier to communicate, share different files, and create different groups with different interests, which are features that always attract internet users. The internet has a variety of different social networking websites such as MySpace, Netlog, Hi5, Yahoo and Facebook. This essay will examine and scrutinize Facebook and its varied features. It will begin with Facebook as a business and determining its industry from different aspects. Second, it will move to some information about Facebook, as well as details, such as Facebook background and some other facts. Third, this paper will go through a rundown of different business theories and strategies that Facebook uses like SWOT and PEST analysis, for instance. Fourth, this piece will take a look at Facebook data via explaining market share and financial issues. Fifth, we’ll be defining the different application of theories and strategies to data being used by the Facebook management. Ant then finally, this document will conclude with looking at Facebook as a new business field, and how technology has been an effective aspect in that field, and not to forget, going through privacy and risk management in this organization.  Founder & Background According to Techterms (2011), Facebook is a web site and a social network service, which means that it is an online service and platform that mirrors and builds social relations among people, for example, sharing interests and common activities. In February 2004 Facebook was launched, and it was operated privately and owned by Facebook. The name was acquired through papers that were given to new students and staff. By July 2011, Facebook had reached more than 800 million users. An American 23, Mark Zuckerberg born in 14th of May 1984 founded Facebook by following and associating computers, with fellow students Chris Hughes, Eduardo Saverin and Dustin Moskovitz, all of whom were his roommates. Zuckerberg is an Internet entrepreneur and computer programmer. A number of social networking websites were already developed by Mark Zuckerberg while he was still studying Psychology at Harvard University. The idea of Facebook was invented before 2004. After the name of the web was bought for $200,000 in August 2005, the name became Facebook.com which was the demanded name. At the beginning , Zuckerberg and his friend rented a small house that served as an office over the summer. After that the co-founder Peter Thiel provide the first amount of investment which was $500, 000 via PayPal , though it’s now worth more than $4.27 billion . However, rendering to Zuckerberg, the group planned to go back to Harvard, but then later on agreed to remain in California. As The Harvard Crimson, on October 28, 2003 which was the beginning of Facebook, the site was originally used just for the comparison between the images of which was hotter or not, or to choose the hottest one via placing every two images together for comparison , and with the number of images not exceeding nine pictures. Harvards computer network particular the protected areas were hacked by Zuckerberg to complete this and the houses private dormitory ID images were copied. At that time, Harvard students did not have basic information and photos directly linked to Facebook. Website Picture 1 Picture 1 shows the Facebook’s Home Page, and it shows the login form on the top right for existing users. It also provides blanks to fill up if you would like to sign up or register directly. Picture 2 Picture 3 Picture 4 Picture 5 Picture 2 is a Facebook profile in September 2011. Picture 3 is how a Facebook profile in 2007 looked like. Picture 4 is a Facebook profile in the year 2005. Picture 5 is a sample of a Facebook mobile graphical user interface. Source : for all pictures above Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Facebook ) was accessed in 24 Oct 2011. At the beginning, Facebook was only targeted towards adults. By September 26, 2006, it was opened and was extended beyond educational institutions to anyone of age 13 years and older with a usable email address. Joining the network was completely free to attract a multitude of users. Facebook became a new option for social networking and communication, and it was easy to figure out that the Facebook brainchild is not just a new kind of fad since there was already something nearly similar to it which was called Hi5 . Moreover, at the time that Facebook was launched, there were already many sites similar and alternative to it, but because Facebook focused on continuous improvement -- like keeping up with new technology, providing what is desired by people by meeting their needs and wants, innovation and invention in the site itself, and providing all this for free -- this helped the site in gaining an edge over its competitors in terms of its appearance, resilience, and this strongly helped in its survival and dominance of the social networking scene. However, advertising has been used as the main source of income, which helped in the presence of sources of income for the site, to maintain the quality and value of all of the above and more. Nowadays, it could be seen that Facebook has become essential and effective in the community and most people’s lives. THEORIES Facebook Theoretical Strategy (vision and mission) The Facebook vision has been clear since the web site was launched in 2004. It is simply to create a connected world network, as well as to promote an entire global community. The site’s mission is to help people understand the world around them, says Zuckerberg. Also the Facebook mission can be identified as providing people with the opportunities to share and make the global network wider and connected at the same time. Another way to achieve that is the way Facebook intends to give people who share the same interests or like-minded people an easier way to get together. When we say a global network, we think of different languages being spoken which appears as a barrier to different people with different languages to communicate and find each other. Facebook has considered that in its mission and therefore created its own translate engine which allows members to communicate using their language while Facebook delivers that to receiver in their own language. That part of their mission clearly shows Facebook’s commitment in achieving their vision. Facebook Strategy The rise of social web is considered as one of the biggest technological movements in the past decade. In all aspects, Facebook has gained top place in this category. The website which calls itself “social utility” is basically connecting all types of people together and making communication and sharing between friends, family members, social groups and work colleagues a lot easier. Looking back to 2004 when Facebook was founded by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, he said that the network was restricted to Harvard students, and then it kept gradually expanding until what it has become today. That shows us the main point and strategy of Facebook. Also, since Facebook has succeeded to become part of those people’s lives simply as an effective tool to keep them up-to-date, therefore, this can be purely identified as another part of the same strategy. SWOT Analysis Strengths From the clean and clear layout and easy access to others, to giving everyone the opportunity to share different kinds of photos and media files, Facebook’s unique features definitely helps to make it a more open and accessible community. Facebook is full of different features that can be clearly seen as strength points. Also, unlike most other social networks, Facebook has sophisticated privacy settings providing more privacy for its users. Weaknesses It has been reported that Facebook does not give much consideration to user’s feedback. Also the new designs introduced to the user’s interface every so often, can be a bit annoying as users always need time to adjust with them. Not to mention how Facebook is forcing all users to have their profiles look identical which can be seen as restricting user’s individuality on their profile. Opportunities Facebook can be easily used to deliver different kinds of messages to as much people as possible. We can see the best example of that when Facebook was an effective source used in the Egyptian revelation that occurred early this year. Facebook can also be a powerful marketing source by using surveys and polls available on the website. Threats As an internet website, the first threat identified is spamming and how it can be harmful. User’s complaints about the continuous emails being sent is another threat because Facebook has still not worked on having a proper filter system to control emails. References: Kirkpatrick, D (2006). Why Facebook Matters. Available at:[ http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/06/magazines/fortune/fastforward_facebook.fortune/index.htm]. Accessed at 24/10/2011 Sramana Mitra (2011). Facebook’s Strategy In Perspective. Available at:[ http://www.sramanamitra.com/2011/01/12/facebooks-strategy-in-perspective/]. Accessed at 25/10/2011 Chapman, I (2008). Facebook S.W.O.T . Available at:[ http://holographiclifemapping.blogspot.com/2008/08/facebook-swot-part-1-strengths.html]. Accessed at 24/10/2011 Savageau, J (2009). Sharing the Facebook Vision. Available at:[ http://john-savageau.com/2009/06/04/sharing-the-facebook-vision-%E2%80%93-an-evening-with-josh-elman-in-santa-clara/]. Accessed at 24/10/2011 TechTerms.com (2011). Facebook . [Online] Available at: http://www.techterms.com/definition/facebook [Accessed 20 October 2011]. Phillips , S (2007 ). A brief history of Facebook [Online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/jul/25/media.newmedia [Accessed 20 October 2011]. Wikipedia (2011). History of Facebook [Online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Facebook [Accessed 21 October 2011]. Roeder, L (2011) . Where Did Facebook Come From? [Online] Available at: http://personalweb.about.com/od/makefriendsonfacebook/a/whatisfacebook_5.htm [Accessed 21 October 2011]. Yadav , L (2006).Facebook – The Complete Biography [Online] Available at: http://mashable.com/2006/08/25/facebook-profile/ [Accessed 21 October 2011]. Carlson , N (2010) .The Full Story Of How Facebook Was Founded [Online] Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-facebook-was-founded-2010-3 [Accessed 21 October 2011]. Kirkpatrick , D (2006). Why Facebook matters [Online] Available at: http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/06/magazines/fortune/fastforward_facebook.fortune/index.htm [Accessed 21 October 2011]. Read More