Here is the outline I have prepared for a "Facebook" presentation in my EDT654 course:
AN OVERVIEW OF “FACEBOOK”
(credit: Wikipedia)
· History
→Revenge of the Nerds—again! Mark Zuckerberg
Founder & CEO
→”Facemash” morphs into “Thefacebook” (2/4/2004)
· Company size
→1000+ employees
→≈$300 million USD
→First positive cash flow 9/2009 (finally)
→350 million subscribers worldwide
· Description
→Social Network Service
→Original concept borrowed from Zuckerberg’s prep
school (Phillips Exeter Academy): a student/staff
directory
→Free to subscribers/revenue raised via Banner ads and
referral marketing
→website: www.facebook.com
· Privacy Concerns & Criticism
Management intended to combat privacy concerns by
allowing users to choose their own privacy settings and
choose who can see what parts of their profile.
→Many privacy concerns have arisen however, including:
User privacy
Child safety
Hacking & Phishing
Data Mining
Inability to Voluntarily Terminate Accounts
CIPPIC Concerns (Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic)
→The Key “Paradox” in Zuckerberg’s own words:
“Our philosophy is that people own their information and control who they share it with.”
In addition to this statement, Zuckerberg explained the paradox created when people want
to share their information (phone number, pictures, email address, etc.) with the public,
but at the same time desire to remain in complete control of who has access to this info.