Category: Facebook

Last month, I was at a Model United Nations conference held at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi. Being one of the protocol officers my assignment was similar to that of an usher at the same time I was to ensure that all protocols of the room are observed. It also meant that I had to constantly be moving around the hall to pick note papers from delegates either addressed to other delegates or the chair. Most delegates had laptops in the room connected to the internet and my surprise a good number of them were misusing the privileges of the internet provided by the UN by accessing Facebook and other social networking sites. It was not surprising that most of the delegates doing this were not contributing to the deliberations going on at the conference. Facebook addiction has had negative effects on many young people and teenagers especially students.

Firstly, it consumes most of their precious time that they can use to do something constructive. I have witnessed on several occasions that I have been to the university library, how some students spend a lot of time chatting on Facebook and social networking instead of engaging themselves in studying. There was even a moment when I saw a friend of mine who had a statistics paper the following day but decided to spend half the time he was in the library on Facebook instead of reading for his paper. Even when he began to read for his paper, the Facebook page was still on so that he could see any new notifications coming. If it is not by using a computer then it is by using a phone that can access the internet, either way, addicts have to Facebook.

The other negative impact Facebook has over its abusers is that both Facebook and other social networking sites tend to spoil written communication, especially among students. The way people communicate using Facebook is very informal and most of the language used in Facebook cannot be used in any formal writing. A student who is addicted to Facebook will get influenced by the social networking language. He will eventually forget and use it in formal writing setup in school. Just a few weeks ago I came across my younger brother’s composition paper. As I was reading the paper I was surprised to see abbreviations normally used with social networking such as ‘us instead of ‘you’, and ‘xul’ instead of ‘school’ among others.

Lastly, in connection with the points discussed above, facebook and social networking can deteriorate grades and performances of average students and employees. This addiction is not only witnessed among students but also in the places of work. A student who spends a lot of time on facebook will eventually have low grades at the end of an academic period. This is because he or she will have spent a lot time social networking instead of focusing on books. Similarly, an employee who uses office hours to facebook will have poor performance of his duties. Companies have come up with a good way of taking care of employees who are fond of this by blocking all popular social networking sites during official working hours. I witnessed this once when I visited my dad at his place of work.

The initial intention of facebook was not to cause people to get addicted to it. It was meant to connect people by creating a network of friends. From facebook one could easily find friends they had couple of years ago. If moderated, then facebook can really serve its purpose.

Introduction

Many studies have been undertaken on social network infidelity (Cravens & Whiting, 2014). Investigations have looked at how the use of chat rooms and pornography can harm marriages and relations between lovers. Current media attention has emphasized on Facebook as an essential medium, which can expedite internet infidelity behaviors.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that minimum explorations have been focused on the role of Facebook in promoting cheating. The prevailing literature proposes that the issue has considerable impacts. In the article below, issues concerning Facebook infidelity are highlighted.

Facebook is a leading social networking site, which enables people to interact. The website permits users to come up with profiles comprising of their self-description, interests, and relationship statuses. It lets members to interrelate through viewing profiles, commenting on posts, sharing images, and sending chats.

Since its establishment in the year 2004, the website has grown to be one of the greatest social networking sites (Helsper & Whitty, 2010). The site has over one billion active members. Because of this, it is alleged that one in every six people on the globe is an active member. In the last few years, an upsurge in online dating especially via Facebook has led to an increase in online infidelity.

Infidelity is described as a defilement of the marital contract, a disloyalty of one’s trust, and a risk of the matrimonial bond. Studies done on this topic have focused on three forms of unfaithfulness. They are sexual, emotional, and online infidelities. Facebook infidelity refers to a passionate relationship with somebody other than the partner that commences and is sustained through this website’s chats.

Because of the increase in the use of social networking sites, it would be helpful to comprehend how Facebook unfaithfulness is comparable or dissimilar to other infidelity conducts.

Some studies have explored the meaning of disloyalty, what manners establish infidelity, gender variances, upgrading relationships after infidelity, and motivational issues (Wysocki & Childers, 2011). Inquiries have proved that relationships undergo through analogous undesirable outcomes with Facebook infidelity as they do with offline unfaithfulness.

What constitutes Facebook infidelity?

Just like other forms of unfaithfulness, Facebook members differ in the manner through which they perceive cheating. It should be noted that people who are engaged in Facebook infidelity have difficulties in deciding if their behaviors are unsuitable or not (Wysocki & Childers, 2011).

Furthermore, these members recount a variety of dissimilar Facebook-specific manners that have occasionally been unfitting. They include befriending an ex-partner, sending friend requests to good-looking members, exchanging private posts to other users, remarking on pretty users depictions, and posting inappropriate relationship status.

Confidentiality is also a concern for Facebook unfaithfulness. Members are capable to customize their accounts with secret codes, which inhibit their spouses from accessing them.

The capability to chat with other members from an individual’s account has made it possible for users to engage in inappropriate conducts even while their spouses are within the same apartment. Furthermore, Facebook permits users to come up with phony accounts or many profiles. In this regard, when a lover has a profile that is kept undisclosed it encourages infidelity behaviors.

Facebook infidelity is comparable to other types of online unfaithfulness because it is problematic to define. Similarly, persons have contradictory views about what Facebook manners should be considered as infidelity. What is exclusive about Facebook unfaithfulness is the level of dealings that this social media offers its members.

As such, Facebook members can see profiles, surf through images, chat with other users in live time, and send secretive messages. Through this feature, Facebook offers members with many forms of interaction enabling them to unite with other online users. Likewise, some spouses may have a robust response to conducts that touches on Facebook friends.

For instance, a companion may be more distressed about an online communication with a close friend than one with a stranger on social media because the supposed infidelity may be sustained offline. Investigations indicate that Facebook users develop a stronger response to connections that have higher chances of being continued offline.

How Facebook facilitates affairs

There is less doubt that Facebook has the capability to promote cheating behaviors and affect offline relations because of the increase in the number of separations mentioning it as a causative feature.

Leckie & Whiting (2012) carried out investigations to determine the specific actions that encouraged Facebook infidelity and the actions considered cheating. In this study, participants indicated that the use of Facebook facilitated practices that encouraged infidelity. To some extent, 52% of the participants recognized their lovers’ behavior as infidelity.

One exceptional discovery of this investigation is associated with the precise functions of Facebook (Leckie & Whiting, 2012). For instance, members discussed the awkwardness and the disgrace they experienced when they found out that their lovers were engaged in online fidelity. Similarly, it was noted that many of those who were caught in the act claimed they were innocent. Such persons played the role of victims.

They stated that their privacy had been compromised (Leckie & Whiting, 2012). Equally, participants highlighted the features of retribution that were Facebook-related. The aspects noted were blocking, unfriending of a lover, communicating with a third party member, pestering of a third party, and posting comments that disclosed the disputes in their relationship.

Motivating factors for Facebook infidelity

Many prototypes have been designed to describe how Facebook infidelity varies from offline cheating (Raguram & Mao, 2009). Similar models have been established to show why Facebook is an addicting medium for starting relations, how it contributes to the growth of relationships, and how it adds to relationship difficulties. One of the pioneer prototypes to be produced was Cooper’s triple “A.” The prototype illustrated three features that made Facebook infidelity dissimilar from offline cheating.

The aspects identified were accessibility, affordability, and anonymity. The model as later redesigned to accommodate an additional “A.” The letter represented the approximation. Approximation referred to the regions of experimentation, which Facebook and other social networks offer their members. As such, Facebook enables users to try out with their erotic fantasies or new manners that might not be comfortable being explored offline.

Other researchers that have contributed to the understanding of these factors are Young, Leiblum, and Doring (Raguram & Mao, 2009). The three scholars came up with models, which emulated Cooper’s triple “A” model. Young designed a prototype called the ACE model. The letters represented anonymity, convenience, and escape.

The above prototype was developed with the aim of clarifying how Facebook and other online users develop addictive behaviors. On the contrary, Leiblum and Doring created a model referred as the triple C engine (Raguram & Mao, 2009). The prototype highlighted the collaborative constituents of the Internet. They included communication, collaboration, and communities. The above models focus on the importance of interpersonal and collaborative aspects, which influences Facebook infidelity.

Raguram & Mao (2009) conducted similar investigations. Their studies were focused on the extensive appraisal of printed empirical studies, which inspected causative features of online-related relationship difficulties. Together, the two scholars came up with five “As” model.

The letters represented anonymity, affordability, approximation, acceptability, and, accessibility. Later, two “As” were added. They represented ambiguity and accommodation. Through this model, they argued that when a spouse feels controlled in the relations or marriage, Facebook and other social networking sites offer them with a platform to chase their perfect visualization of self.

The impact of Facebook infidelity

An investigation on the effects of Facebook cheating proposes that these spouses are influenced in comparable ways as offline infidelity. Fundamental emotional responses to Facebook betrayal were hurt, loss of faith, tremor, suspicion, shame, and annoyance. Similarly, such situations force companions to settle on difficult choices about whether to stay or terminate their relationship.

Such, circumstances are also experienced in offline infidelity. Cravens and Whiting also established that in reaction to an imaginary situation about Facebook disloyalty, 64% of the members suggested that their relationship terminated (Raguram & Mao, 2009). Other undesirable effects encompassed loss of faith, quarreling, reprisal, and adverse emotions.

The number of persons who will notice Facebook unfaithfulness of their friends is higher compared to offline infidelity. The above is true because of Facebook’s popularity among close friends. Usually, when a spouse is caught engaging in disloyal acts offline persons who become informed of it may be restricted to associates or kinfolks.

With Facebook and other social networks, when unfair behaviors are displayed on an individual’s profile the disloyalty will be recognized by most of his or her friends. The above situations might result in more levels of humiliation or annoyance.

Clinical implications

Clinicians working with partners who have been victims of Facebook disloyalty should emphasize in numerous areas during treatment (Whitty, 2003). They are an evaluation, boundary, rule setting, and dispensation of sentiments related to the unfaithfulness. Evaluation of Facebook unfaithfulness should emphasize on numerous factors. Such features might include reconnoitering the involved partners, discovering how spouses perceive these conducts and the motivational elements in existence.

Cravens & Whiting (2014) categorized many of areas, which can be evaluated when addressing Facebook infidelity manners to differentiate if they are online betrayal or a habitual conduct. The first two areas of evaluation comprised of involved spouses and their perception of the problem. Clinicians were encouraged to explore the whereabouts of the third parties when trying to diagnose the impacts and cause of Facebook infidelity.

Through this, the physician can seek to establish the third party’s physical location and his or her relations with the client. Similarly, the clinician should identify if an offline relationship exists between the two individuals. Based on the above illustrations, it is apparent that collecting facts about the third party is the surest approach to evaluating the harshness of the disloyalty.

Another means to evaluate for severity is inquiring both spouses’ perception of the problem (Wysocki & Childers, 2011). Based on the varied available descriptions of Facebook and online infidelity, clinicians ought to seek from both couples their understanding of conduct that establish infidelity and if both spouses come to an agreement on the issue. It is likely that the partner caught in the act will disagree with the behavior being termed infidelity. Similarly, the non-participating partner will most probably recognize the conduct as cheating.

After the clinician and the spouses have understood the behaviors they believe to be unsuitable, they should emphasis on interactive guidelines and boundaries for using Facebook (Wysocki & Childers, 2011). Therapists ought to encourage the couples to debate how these rules and limitations will be implemented. They should analyze some of the following questions:

• Will they share PINs of their Facebook accounts?
• Will they permit one another to log into their Facebook accounts?
• What type of relationship status is to be posted on their account?
• What are the benefits of sharing passwords?

During the discussion, the clinician should help the spouses to reach a consensus on many vital issues. Through this, the involved parties will be able to agree on what is ideal for their relations.

The last clinical subject that should be emphasized when addressing Facebook unfaithfulness deals with treating the diverse feelings associated with the effect of the conduct on the nonparticipating spouse (Wysocki & Childers, 2011). The clinician should evaluate for each lovers’ opinion on whether the identified online behaviors are overpassing a social boundary.

When one spouse views Facebook performances as deceitful and the other one tone them down, it is likely that the nonparticipating lover will not feel contented to express his or her sentiments. For instance, the clinicians should ask the following questions:

• What feelings have you had after being informed of your companion’s Facebook infidelity?
• How has your mate responded towards these moods?
• Do you believe that it is satisfactory to be feeling this way about Facebook infidelity?

Regulating the choice of sentiments felt and providing space for the spouse to express them in hearing will be a significant feature throughout this phase of management. The above will work best when the participating spouse believes Facebook conducts are not deceitful.

Furthermore, the likelihood that all of the couple’s Facebook friends may become aware of his or her infidelity may enhance the moods of awkwardness, annoyance, and disgrace. The above might not have been so protuberant if the event was not openly exhibited on Facebook. Therapeutic meetings can be devoted to talking about apprehensions associated with the effect of the unfaithfulness on Facebook and how to accomplish what is displayed on this website.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it should be noted that many studies have been undertaken on the issue of social network infidelity. Investigations have looked at the behaviors through which the use of chat rooms and pornography can harm marriages and relations between lovers. Current media attention has emphasized on Facebook as an essential medium, which can expedite Internet infidelity manners. Just like other forms of unfaithfulness, members of this website differ in the way through which they perceive cheating.

Scholars have noted that people who had engaged in Facebook infidelity were having difficulties in deciding if their conduct was unsuitable or not. Furthermore, these members recounted a variety of dissimilar Facebook-specific manners that have occasionally been unfitting. Investigations on the effects of Facebook cheating propose that these spouses are impacted in comparable ways as offline infidelity. Fundamental emotional responses to Facebook betrayal were hurt, loss of faith, tremor, suspicion, shame, and annoyance.

References

Cravens, J., & Whiting, J. (2014). Clinical Implications of Internet Infidelity: Where Facebook Fits In. The American Journal Of Family Therapy, 42(4), 325-339.

Helsper, E., & Whitty, M. (2010). Netiquette within married couples: Agreement about acceptable online behavior and surveillance between partners. Computers In Human Behavior, 26(5), 916-926.

Leckie, K., & Whiting, J. (2012). Facebook Infidelity: When Poking Becomes Problematic. Contemp Fam Ther, 35(1), 74-90.

Raguram, A., & Mao, A. (2009). Online infidelity: The new challenge to marriages. Indian Journal Of Psychiatry, 51(4), 302-305.

Whitty, M. (2003). Pushing the Wrong Buttons: Men’s and Women’s Attitudes toward Online and Offline Infidelity. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 6(6), 569-579.

Wysocki, D., & Childers, C. (2011). Let My Fingers Do the Talking: Sexting and Infidelity in Cyberspace. Sexuality & Culture, 15(3), 217-239.

Living in the world of the newest information and communication technologies has changed the lives of ordinary people. Today, they do not have to leave their homes to communicate with their friends and make new acquaintances, buy goods or promote their own business, obtain education or gain assistance in educational issues. What if I told you that Facebook can cope with all these tasks at once, and does it effectively?

The purpose of this study was to choose a specific social media platform and define what powerful benefits it has on the people in my local area. First of all, I would like to highlight that the people of my local area are those who are the closest to me, whom I can see and communicate with on a daily basis. These are my peers. This decision was obvious because, with their help, I could define what are the benefits that they receive from using Facebook. Moreover, I wanted the insight to be fresh and modern that is why I have asked people my age to help me. What I want to stress on is that they use the social network daily and are close to being called social network addicts. Together with that, they managed to turn Facebook into an instrument for achieving their set goals.

As the basis for my research, I decided that I needed to make some investigation on the subject with the aim of defining the reasons for Facebook’s popularity with young people. Second, I believed that I should first define the theoretical benefits of the social network and then seek for approving them from my friends’ words. Let me begin with one simple fact from the statistics: average American spends about 40 minutes a day checking his Facebook account (“7 Powerful Facebook Facts for Business Owners“ par. 4). It means that it is a popular social network, and what I believe is that it owes its popularity with young people to the fact that it was launched by the students, who knew how to make something attractive to people like them. I learned that Facebook grants its constant users three powerful benefits: communication, education, and business.

The initial goal of Facebook was to create a platform for communicating and making new acquaintances. It is the first powerful benefit the social network gives to its users – it enhances their social lives (Gafni and Deri 46). One of my friends, let us call him John for the sake of anonymousness, said that Facebook builds up his social capital through the amount of friends he has there. He believed that he owes his popularity to the number of people who follow him and read his wall. Bearing in mind that social capital is based on the outcomes of various relationships with other people and their structure (Johnston et al. 25), I agree with John that Facebook adds to it, however, I would not want to amplify about the quality of this capital. I will just admit this fact.

Another my friend, I will call her Ann, did not get into details and ink-horn terms. All she said is that this social network is a perfect way to keep in touch with old friends, especially when you are busy or out of town, and make new acquaintances based on mutual interests. However, she brought up an interesting item – the issue of hashtags. Ann told me that it is the most powerful benefit that Facebook could give her because she has met many interesting people simply by browsing the hashtags. I like her point of view. Together with John, they approved that Facebook is an effective platform for communication and making new acquaintances.

Except for communication purposes, this social network is often used for obtaining assistance with educational matters. One of my interviewees, let us call her Cathleen, said that she is not a Facebook-addict. The reason for checking her account frequently is because she gets plenty useful information regarding studying from the posts of her friends and professors. Indeed, Facebook has become a social platform for expressing opinions that very often might be significant in obtaining the education. For example, professors can post notes with useful information from the lectures or for the new course as well as the users have an opportunity to consult with each others or their teacher without leaving homes, so, it saves a lot if time (Gafni and Deri 55-56). Of course, there might be a matter of concern arising from the amount of time spent for browsing Facebook, even if the initial purpose was academic, but it is a whole new story. Facebook has proved that it can be an efficient platform for exchanging information.

Finally, this social network has become a frequently used instrument for doing business. It was long ago that business has moved to the electronic sphere, but its shift to the dimension of social networking is something new. One of my peers, let us call him Mike, said that Facebook is a perfect marketing tool. He mentioned something similar to John’s concept of social capital but in the aspect of making business. Mike told that what has become popular is announcing discounts for the followers of particular Facebook profiles belonging to sales companies. Moreover, he said that it is an incredible tool for promoting business, especially start-up. The reason for Facebook’s popularity is this sphere is that when people like some profiles, they share its posts, and it become well known. Another way of promoting the company is promising the friend who shared the story of successful cooperation with it a discount for the next purchase (Bradley par. 6). The strategies with price reductions really work.

Finally, the last but not the least opinion regarding Facebook’s powerful benefits is that of Carol, another my interviewee. She stated two precious points at once. First, she claimed that Facebook is a low-cost but productive marketing strategy. Indeed, all the company needs is the person who will work on promoting the business without spending thousands of dollars on advertising. In addition, together with the number of everyday logins and bearing in mind previously mentioned strategies for promoting business, Facebook is a perfect marketing tool (“Benefits of Facebook for Business” par. 2). Second, Carol mentioned what is even more important than promoting business – finding new customers. In fact, it can be easily achieved by sharing the basic information about the company and the goods and services it offers and share them by means of, for example, hashtags or ads (Patel par. 7).

So, my friends whom I interviewed helped me to realize that what is written about the powerful benefits of Facebook is indeed true. At least, their experiences demonstrate that this social network enhances communication and help in making new acquaintances, is effective for reaching educational objectives, and as well is a perfect tool for promoting business. Bearing it all in mind, I do believe that it is not the maximum of the Facebook’s potential and that in the nearest future, the development team will offer new options for using this social network for improving our everyday lives.

Works Cited

7 Powerful Facebook Facts for Business Owners. 2016. Web.

Benefits of Facebook for Business. 2014. Web.

Bradley, Tony. Three Ways Business Can Take Advantage of Facebook Places. n.d. Web. 2016.

Gafni, Ruti, and Moran Deri. “Costs and Benefits for Undergraduate Students.” Interdisciplinary Journal of information, Knowledge, and Management 7.1 (2012): 45-61. Print.

Johnston, Kevin, Maureen Tanner, Nishant Lalla and Dori Kawalski. “Social Capital: The benefit of Facebook ‘Friends’.”Behavior & information Technology 32.1 (2013). 24-36. Print.

Patel, Rajesh. What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Facebook. 2015. Web.

Facebook

The first objective is to increase the number of service users with the help of social media. Despite the fact that the senior population is not proficient enough in the use of platforms such as Facebook, promoting the project P.A.W.S. online will capture the attention of those users who may have parents or grandparents in need for someone to take care of their pets.

Strategy

Make sure that the project P.A.W.S. Facebook page contains all of the necessary information with regards to services, prices, and objectives of the program. It is important to present the project in the good light and promote it to Facebook users.

Tactics

• Make advertisement ‘deals’ with other Facebook pages that have similar aims or interests. For example, project P.A.W.S. can be promoted by a vet clinic’s Facebook page or a community that shares the latest pet news in a specific area. It is likely that Facebook users with pets follow such pages and will see the project P.A.W.S. mentioned in some of the posts.
• Offering discounts on the PAWS services to those users that share and like the Facebook page will be an effective marketing tactic. Furthermore, project P.A.W.S. can host competitions and giveaways to raise awareness and attract a larger audience.

Commercial

The second objective is reaching a much broader audience than just Facebook users. By creating a commercial that will air on television and online, the project P.A.W.S. will get more publicity and establish itself as a reliable service for senior citizens. Furthermore, the commercial may get the attention of volunteers that can offer their help.

Strategy

Making a commercial that will cater to the target audience (senior citizens unable to take care of their pets) at the same time with capturing the attention of other people (or potential investors) who may have an interest in projects such as P.A.W.S.

Tactics

• Use the target demographic when filming the commercial and appeal to their needs and problems.
• Stress the importance of taking care of pets when their owners are in nursing homes/other care facilities since many animals get abandoned or given away because some care establishments do not allow for their presence.
• The commercial must me short but informative and include a hotline number as well as other contacts so those interested in the services P.A.W.S. offers can call straight away.

Brochures

The third objective is reaching the audience that could not be reached with the help of social media or television. Brochures are reliable methods of advertising that can be used in hospitals, nursing homes, grocery and pet stores, vet clinics, as well as other places that the target audience visits regularly.

Strategy

Create visually appealing brochures that can be placed on brochure stands in different locations or just be given away by the volunteers in public places.

Tactics

• Involve experienced graphic designers that will create a colorful brochure containing all contact information and tell the target audience more about the project P.A.W.S. To capture more attention, photographs or drawings of seniors with their pets can be used.
• Then, it is important to collaborate with pet stores, healthcare facilities, nursing homes, and other facilities to have permission to place brochures on stands.
• It could also be effective for staff members to give brochures away with receipts or purchases because in such a way the target audience will be much more likely to study the contents of the brochures.

Media Schedule

Article Summary

This article describes unexpected resonance connected with the policy of Facebook about personal data. Dina Srinivasan, a former digital advertising executive, published her article in which she stated that “Facebook harmed consumers by charging them ever-increasing amounts of personal data to use its platform” (Horwitz, 2019, para. 3). She was extremely surprised to know that her work attracted highly substantial attention as she did not have a law license or any institutional affiliation. Nevertheless, Dina Srinivasan was invited to present her article at several antitrust conferences. The representatives of Facebook denied Srinivasan’s claims that “the company tracks its users in an aggressive or unique fashion” (Horwitz, 2019, para. 8). However, the emerged social resonance demonstrated the necessity of the antitrust law’s review.

Economic Concept

The article refers to the protection of personal data that may be inappropriately used by large social networks against the will of their users. Facebook previously confirmed that “it would track users via the login and like buttons embedded in millions of news sites, online retailers and games” for effective targeting and advertising (Horwitz, 2019, para. 24). In fact, a prevalent number of users rejected being tracked even though Facebook offers its services free of charge. That is why Srinivasan’s article was positively evaluated by the public and initiated the consideration related to antitrust law.

Opinion

From a personal perspective, the practice of the companies’ use of people’s private information without their agreement is unethical and illegal. Customers do not know who may use their data and for what reason. In order to minimize the clients’ risks of being harmed, Facebook and other large multinational retail companies and social networks should change their policies and certain business practices to protect personal data.

Reference

Horwitz, J. (2019). She Argued Facebook Is a Monopoly. To Her Surprise, People Listened. The Wall Street Journal. Web.

A social networking site has been described by Gary Schneider as “a site which allows individuals to create and publish a profile, create a list of other users with whom they can share a connection (or connections), control that list, and monitor similar lists made by other users” (262). Social networking Web sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter have impacted daily life and social relationships in a profound way (Lusted 9). In this case the argument is whether first movers are better than later counterparts, the market followers. This case is built on MySpace as a fast mover and Facebook as a market follower in which a market follower exhibits better success.

MySpace became the most popular social networking site in the US when it was launched. In 2006 it became one of the fastest growing with 300 million users (Vakali and Jain 222).Facebook has been described by Marcia Lusted as one that started in February 2004, when the flamboyant MySpace had more than a million members and was quickly becoming the nation’s dominant social network (7). Lusted reports that statistics from 2010 show that Facebook had more than 500 million active users, and MySpace had more than 122 million (10). As a predecessor to Facebook, MySpace was a first mover and Facebook a market follower.

Facebook had a number of advantages entering into a market that was not completely unaware of the functionalities of a social networking site. Facebook evaded the significant cost of being a pioneer in a field had been suffered by MySpace which was gaining popularity by the time Facebook was starting (Hill, Jones and Schilling 229). MySpace had already tilled the ground thus Facebook had an easier time acquiring users. Facebook also had an advantage in that they could understand the market better from the performances of other social networking companies and could hence focus on what would work.

As a first mover, MySpace did not provide the tools needed to capture its audience. According to a Forbes’ Web page, MySpace users felt that the social networking site was not personal enough and was more commercially filled with ads and the users were targeted mostly at bands and celebrities (“Mui”). Facebook took advantage of this later and its platform was created more for users to connect with real people. MySpace has also been stiff in terms of accessibility to a wider demographic. MySpace has been heavily criticized to not cater to the needs of people with disabilities (Ellis and Kent 108).

First movers often have to pour in huge sums of capital and learn along the way into a new market, and that makes them prone to mistakes that sometimes are difficult to rebound from in a fragile market. This gives an upper hand to market followers who learn from the trends and tailor their services to better suit the market. Facebook is an example of a market follower that tapped into the misdoings of the earlier social networking sites to appeal more to the online market (Wenzimer and McConoughey 33). Most of the earlier social networking sites like MySpace had minor to major hitches like slow-loading pages, non-customizable profiles and even mere appearances that was a turn down to a majority of users. Facebook’s main factor of success is that it listened to the market and was user friendly.

Works Cited

Chunka, Mui. “Why Facebook Beat MySpace and why MySpace’s Revised Strategy will probably fail.” Forbes. Forbes, 2011.

Ellis, Katie & Kent, Mike. Disability & New Media. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2011. Print.

Hill, Charles, Gareth Jones and Melissa Schilling. Strategic Management Theory: Theory. An Integrated Approach.11th ed. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2015. Print.

Lusted, A. Marcia.Social Networking, MySpace, Facebook & Twitter. Edina: ABDO Publishing Company, 2011. Print.

Schneider, Gary. Electronic Commerce. 9^th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print

Vakali, Athena and Jain, C. Lakhmi.New Directions in Web Data Management 1. Berlin: Springs-Verlag, 2011. Print.

Weinzimer, G. Laurence and McConoughey, Jim. The Wisdom of Failure. How to Learn the Tough Leadership Lessons. Without Paying the Price. San Francisco: Josey Bass, 2013. Print.

Introduction

Once a student startup, Facebook has grown to be a tech giant and the most popular social media platform in the world. However, its outsize influence, especially after the acquisition of Instagram and Whatsapp, has caused the US-based company a great deal of legal trouble. Some of the biggest scandals that Facebook had to face concerned the issues of privacy. In the era when data has become a new form of currency, the social media platform was sharing user information with third parties or ignoring breaches in its security system allowing illicit data collection. The European Union has since decided to pass regulations to undercut Facebook’s leverage, but the United States has not yet followed suit. This essay argues that state control of Facebook may help to defend users’ right to privacy and prevent misinformation but at the same time, infringe on free speech and hurt employment opportunities and business revenues.

Advantages of Facebook Regulation

Defending the Right to Privacy

The right to privacy is one of the most fundamental freedoms enjoyed by the citizens of the United States. This freedom is guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution that states that “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” On the international level, the right to privacy can be found in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, according to which, no person should be “subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy […] nor attacks upon his honor and reputation.” Facebook has long been walking a fine line between collecting voluntarily shared information and infringing on users’ privacy. However, recent scandals indicate that the tech giant might have given in to its appetite for data and taken it too far.

In July 2018, Facebook was fined $5bn by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the social company’s mishandling of user data. The court ruling was the result of the FTC’s investigation into the now-defunct British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica that allegedly found a breach in Facebook’s security system and gained access to 87 million users’ information (Ward). Aside from that, the company admitted to sharing data with Amazon and Yahoo, which is an exemption from their privacy rules. What is even worse in 2015, the Google Android system allowed Facebook to collect call and text logs from phones, which contradicts the company’s initial claim that it only collects data on personal interests.

In the Facebook v. Patel case, the company claimed that data sharing could only be deemed illegal if users were individually harmed (Ward). What this logic ignores is the magnitude of consequences and temporary immediacy of issues. Indeed, a data breach may not hurt a person directly or in the short term. Yet, Facebook is practically refusing to take responsibility for adverse future events, for instance, if someone has their reputation soiled due to involuntarily divulged information.

Preventing Misinformation

However, it is not only data collection for targeted advertising but also the contents of Facebook ads themselves that may pose a danger. Some of them are not marketing chic clothing apparel or a local cozy food place: instead, they are promoting potentially harmful views that may mislead the viewers. As reported by Gilbert, in 2019, Facebook was criticized for allowing ads suggesting negative health effects of Truvada PrEP, an HIV-prevention drug with clinically proven efficiency. Not only that but the advertisements also had a direct call to action: they were meant to recruit gay and bisexual men for receiving cash compensations because of allegedly adverse side effects of the drug. By doing so, the advertisers were preventing HIV prophylaxis among some of the most vulnerable demographics.

Disadvantages of Facebook Regulation

Infringement on Free Speech

The discussion about regulating Facebook in the United States cannot leave out the question of free speech. The latter is guaranteed by the First Amendment that says that no law should “[abridge] the freedom of speech or the press.” The amendment is not meant to protect popular opinions; it also gives the people of America the right to support fringe ideas and hold non-mainstream opinions. Probably one of the most resonant cases on this issue was Brandenburg v. Ohio in 1969 when the court ruled that a Ku Klux Klan member was not breaking the law by expressing his racist views as long as they did not lead to imminent violence (Talmy and Dobzinski). Hate speech, which has recently become a buzzword for the US media, may also be protected by the First Amendment. Apart from that, history knows examples when a controversial opinion was proven to be right after an initial ban. Between 1933 and 1939, Churchill was not allowed to speak on BBC and warn his compatriots of the threat that was Hitler’s Germany. In other words, sometimes an infringement on free speech not just violates human rights but becomes a source of danger.

Facebook’s formal policies regarding free speech have so far complied with the US Constitution. According to the Community Guidelines, the company removes all content that contains “misinformation that could lead to physical harm.” However, in practice, exercising free speech in the context of Facebook is not as straightforward. Westfall exposes the platform’s inconsistency in applying their policies: while it allows Trump’s racist remarks, it deletes the Brazilian President’s opinion on the COVID-19. The same happens to advertisements that touch upon social or political issues. Likely, additional state regulations will not delineate but further complicate the case. Besides, when managed by the government, the very definition of hate speech or misinformation may become subject to change based on the current agenda.

Loss of Revenue and Employment Opportunities

What should not be ignored when analyzing the issue of Facebook regulation is that it is a business whose goal is to generate more profit. Today, about 85% of Facebook’s profit comes from advertising, which amounts to around $40 billion annually (Smith). The company is one of the biggest employers globally and in the United States, and it is growing revenues that allow them to expand its operations and hire more staff. In September 2020, 56,653 people were working for Facebook, which is a 30% increase year-over-year (Smith). Providing new employment opportunities and retaining staff is especially important during an unprecedented crisis that is the COVID-19 outbreak.

Facebook not just creates jobs but also helps small and medium businesses connect with their potential customers. As pointed out by the author of The Like Economy, Carter, Facebook is a marketing tool unlike any that the world has seen. Its “Like” system decreases marketing costs and gives businesses control over customer conversations. Doing business on this platform is transparent and conducive to creating “evangelistic customers” who share content, defend products, and increase sales.

This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many businesses to the brink of bankruptcy, and during this time, they appreciate any affordable and effective channels of communication. Bartik et al. report that in their sample, 43% of businesses closed with one of the primary reasons being a reduction in demand (17656). The Mid-Atlantic region took the hardest hit where the closure rate reached 54% of firms, and employment decreased by 47%. According to Bartik et al., the most affected industries were retail, arts and entertainment, food services, and hospitality businesses that heavily rely on social media and especially visual imagery for customer leads (17661). It is possible that new regulations will cut off the oxygen for such businesses, and they will lose any visibility on Facebook.

Conclusion

Regulating Facebook is as complex as it gets and has both potentially positive and negative consequences. On the one hand, doing so will fortify US citizens’ right to privacy guaranteed by the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is critical since Facebook refuses to take responsibility for delayed consequences of data leaks and sharing. Furthermore, regulations may help to stop misinformation that poses a threat to users’ mental and psychological health. On the other hand, government control may violate users’ rights to free speech by redefining what hate speech and misinformation are. Additionally, limiting advertising capacity would stifle Facebook’s expansion capacity, decreasing job and business opportunities.

Works Cited

Bartik, Alexander W., et al. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Small Business Outcomes and Expectations.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117, no. 30, 2020, pp. 17656-17666.

Carter, Brian. The Like Economy. Pearson Education, 2014.

Gilbert, Ben. “Facebook Ads Are Misleading People About the Effects of a Major Hiv Prevention Drug, Putting ‘real People’s Lives in Imminent Danger,’ Health Advocates Say.” Business Insider. 2019. Web.

Smith, Kit. 53 Incredible Facebook Statistics and Facts.2019. Web.

Talmy, Anat, and Oret Dobzinski. “Should Facebook be Regulated?” Jewish Chronicle. 2019. Web.

Ward, Jacob. “Why Data, not Privacy, is the Real Danger.”NBC News. 2019. Web.

Westfall, Chris. “The Free Speech Face-Off Between Facebook And Twitter: Are Warnings Justified?” Forbes. 2020. Web.

Introduction

Any catering establishment needs to be able to present itself on the Internet. Especially nowadays, before going to a restaurant, people search for it on Google or social networks to see the menu, interior, and location. If the company does not have a website or is not present on social networks, then it loses a large part of its potential customers because the establishment’s success depends on advertising and marketing in the restaurant business. Promoting the restaurant on social networks is necessary in order to find potential guests and increase the loyalty of regular customers. In simple words – a good social media profile should attract guests visually: beautiful photos of food, videos of events, and photos of staff and guests. All these aspects can fit on almost any social media platform, but some media spaces are still better than others. This essay will present a discussion of two platforms, Facebook and TripAdvisor, and argue why TripAdvisor is better for promoting a restaurant in Riyadh.

Main Body

Facebook allows users to discuss content by leaving comments actively and publicly (Gössling & Michael, 2021). This social media platform provides people insight into the quality of the establishment through the reviews they leave. Because Facebook is not centered around catering or service, it may provide space and options for wider audiences and users of social media (Hamdi, 2020). Facebook allows for the utilization of photos of the interior and food as the main criteria for evaluating a restaurant (Aggrawal & Anand, 2022). When people visit a restaurant’s page on the platforms, they immediately pay attention to the photos provided by the owners of the establishment. Essentially, Facebook allows for flexibility in reviews and posts regarding the service and catering industry.

On the other hand, TripAdvisor is much more specialized and directed at both the service and tourism industries. It similarly applies the use of photographs but is more limited in its presentations. Overall, TripAdvisor reviews are more frequently used for the selection of a restaurant, especially when clients may be non-local (Pew Research Center, 2021). The structure of TripAdvisor reviews allows for easy access, concise content, and simplified suggestions for clients to make choices regarding their plans to attend an establishment (Kinstler, 2018). As such, it provides options for both establishment owners and operators as well as for potential clients.

Today, the social network Facebook is used more by middle-aged people than young people. A study by Trecebits indicates that people between the ages of 40 and 64 use Facebook more often (Rubio, 2018). At the same time, TripAdvisor is used by people of all ages, from teens to seniors. The second difference is that TripAdvisor provides its users with restaurant price ratings. This means that customers, without looking at the list prices on the menu, can immediately assess the pricing policy of the establishment (Bollerey & Grafe, 2019). On Facebook, visitors do not have such a possibility because the price rating is not displayed. In addition, Facebook is a platform typically used by restaurant or bar owners to showcase their premises, tables, patio, and food. TripAdvisor places more importance on the quality of customer service that has passed through the restaurant or bar (Brass & Borgatti, 2019). This is the main reason why TripAdvisor is a much more appropriate platform to put a restaurant in the media space. Visitors can get all the information they need easily by going to this platform (Jung, 2018). It includes pricing, pictures of the interior and food, and live customer reviews.

Conclusion

To summarize, promoting a restaurant on social media platforms is essential for a successful business. Many services provide such an opportunity, including Facebook and TripAdvisor. Based on all the above, TripAdvisor is a more suitable platform for a restaurant. This is due to the conciseness of the presentation of all the necessary information for potential customers and the availability of a convenient pricing rating on this platform. Facebook offers much less functionality, giving visitors only the opportunity to leave a review and look at a picture of the establishment. This is why TripAdvisor is the best alternative for restaurant owners.

References

Aggrawal, N., & Anand, A. (2022). Social networks: Modeling and analysis. CRC Press.

Bollerey, F., & Grafe, C. (2019). Restaurants and dining rooms. Routledge.

Brass, D. J., & Borgatti, S. P. (2019).Social networks at work. Routledge.

Gössling, S., & Michael, C. (2021). The sustainable chef: The environment in culinary arts, restaurants, and hospitality. Routledge.

Hamdi, K. (2020). The difference between Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, & Pinterest [Updated for 2020]. Impact.

Jung, H. (2018). Restaurant financial management: A practical approach. Apple Academic Press.

Kinstler, L. (2018). How TripAdvisor changed travel. The Guardian.

Pew Research Center. (2021).Social media fact sheet. Pew Research Center.

Rubio, J. C. (2018).Así se utiliza Facebook en España. TreceBits.

Rationale for Selection

Social networking has become increasingly popular in the recent years. Businesses consider social marketing as an important element of their strategic planning and invest a significant proportion of their marketing budget in this tool of marketing. All types of businesses irrespective of their sizes, locations, and products or services use social networking websites for different marketing objectives. These objectives include increasing awareness of customers, communicating with customers, promoting products or services, etc. In the last decade, several social networking websites emerged that offer interactive platforms for socialization. These social networking websites offer great opportunities to businesses to carry out their marketing activities. Amongst these social networking websites, the most successful website is Facebook.

Facebook implemented a unique networking platform that allowed developers and programmers to integrate web and mobile phone applications with the website. The company was incorporated in California, U.S. in the year 2014 and it filed an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of its shares in 2012. The company’s shares were floated at a price of $38 per share, and the IPO was a complete success. It raised $104 billion for the company, which made it the largest initial public offering (Bultman, 2012). At the time of this IPO, the company reported 845 million active users. However, the recent figures reported by the company indicated that there are more than 1.2 billion users presently active on the website that makes it one of the largest social networking websites across the globe. After the IPO, the company’s stock price plummeted to its lowest value of $26.81. However, since then the company’s stock price has been on the rise. Presently, the company’s stocks are trading at $64.29, which reflects a capital gain of $26.29 per share. The current beta value of stock is 1.08, which implies a reasonable level of riskiness associated with an investment in the company’s stocks. The website has implemented a business model, which generates revenues from advertisements and other promotional activities carried out by businesses and individuals (Van-Tien Dao, Nhat Hanh Le, Ming-Sung Cheng, & Chen, 2014). The following graph indicates the stock price movement of Facebook.

There is no immediate threat to the website’s business. It major competitors in the online marketing industry are Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and many other trade websites (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014). However, the website has a unique selling point as it allows marketing by businesses according to the geographical and social segmentation of its members. It makes it easier for businesses to target potential customers in a cost effective manner.

The rationale of selection is derived on the basis of the company’s strong position in the social networking industry and its potential to attract new active customers. The company acquired several support businesses in different parts of the world that would assist it in developing newer technologies and applications. The prospect of the company remains positive. Therefore, possible investment in the company’s stocks is considered in this report.

Investor Profile

Every investor has a different attitude towards risk associated with investment in equity. In order to develop an investor’s risk profile, various factors are considered. These factors include investment experience, risk tolerance, investment goals and objectives, and liquidity requirements of the investor (Thompson, Williams, & Findlay, 2009). A moderate risk profile is considered for investment in stocks of Facebook. An investor with a moderate risk profile is expected to hold his or her investment for a longer tenure. The risk tolerance of such investors is moderate. Such investor expects fluctuations in the stock price during the holding period. These fluctuations are considered temporary and short-term trading in stocks is avoided. The primary objective of the investment is to achieve capital gains from an increase in the stock price. These capital gains are only realized upon selling of stocks (Thompson, Williams, & Findlay, 2009). Moreover, a moderate risk investor does not expect to receive a regular income in the form of dividends from his or her investment. There is a moderate level of risk associated with investment in the company’s stocks as the current beta value is close to one. Stocks that have a beta value close to one have less volatility and investors could expect fewer fluctuations in the stock price (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2014).

Financial Ratio Analysis

Facebook is a new public limited company, and it filed its financial statements only for the last three years, which are used in this report for the financial ratio analysis. The company’s year-end is on the last working day of the year. The company is incorporated as per the rules and regulations of the Securities Exchange Commission, US. It reports its financials in US Dollar terms. The analysis includes five important financial ratios including current ratio, asset turnover, total debt to total equity ratio, return on equity, and cash flow ratio (Tabbush et al., 2011). The justification for the selection of financial ratios was the objective to assess the performance of the company under four different categories of analysis including liquidity, efficiency, leverage, profitability, and cash flow ratios.

Table 1: Key Financial Ratios. Figures are in ‘000s. Sources: (Facebook, Inc. (FB), 2014b).

The company’s liquidity position remained very strong in the last three years. The current ratio was calculated by dividing Facebook’s current assets by its current liabilities. The current ratio assists in ascertaining a company’s short-term liquidity position. In the last three years, the current ratio value was well above the benchmark value of 1.00 (Tabbush et al., 2011). It suggested that the company did not face any problems related to its short-term obligations. Short-term obligations of the company included “account payable, current portion of long-term debt, and other current liabilities” (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014). An analysis of the company’s current assets revealed that the company made significant short-term investments in securities of U.S. government and U.S. government agencies (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014). These investments were available for sale, and the company’s intention to invest in such securities was to generate income from other sources for the company’s shareholders. The company’s cash position remained strong, which helped the company to invest in developing better technology and performing extensive marketing activities. The company has undertaken several initiatives to collaborate with other companies to increase its coverage and number of users (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014).

Moreover, the company’s Form 10-K report for the year ending December 31, 2013 indicated that the company managed its current liabilities well. The company reduced its external debt by a significant amount in 2013 that suggested that it generated high profits and cash from its operations. It could also be noted that the company’s retained earnings almost doubled in 2013, which suggested that the company held sufficient earnings for reinvestment in the company or repay its external borrowing (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014).

The second ratio included in this report is the asset turnover ratio. The asset turnover ratio is an important ratio that ascertains a company’s ability to use its assets efficiently and generate higher sales (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2014). The results indicated that the company improved its asset utilization in 2013. The ratio value was 0.44 in 2013 that implied that the company generated $0.44 of sales from each $1 invested in the company’s assets. In 2012, the ratio value was just 0.34. The company recorded its investments in fixed assets at their historical costs and financial instruments were recorded at their fair value (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014). The company recorded a sharp increase in its total assets in 2012, which was due to an increase in investment of $4,846 million in marketable securities (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014). Overall, it could be suggested that the company’s efficiency measured by the asset turnover ratio remained weak in the last three years. Facebook should strive to generate high sales from its business operations. Tough competition by new emerging social networking websites and specialized websites could challenge the company’s business model and its ability to attract application developers.

The leverage ratio values suggested highly liquid long-term position of the company. The company’s was least dependent on external borrowing. It generated sufficient cash flows from its operating activities. The company’s total cash flow from operating activities increased by 161.91% in 2013. Moreover, the company repaid $1,891 million of its borrowed amount in 2013, which it received in 2012 and 2011 (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014). To assess the company’s leverage position the total debt to total equity ratio was calculated. The ratio value indicated that the company had $0.16 of debt for each $1 of equity. Similarly, a declining trend in the ratio value was observed since 2011. Overall, it could be suggested that the company had a strong leverage position. It should take advantage of its liquidity and make investment in businesses that could help it improve its technology and reduce resources required by users to access Facebook (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014).

The profitability position of the company was determined by the return on equity ratio. In 2012, the company’s profits declined significantly due to a sharp increase in its cost of revenues and research and development expenditure. The cost of revenues increased by almost 58% in 2012. Also, research and development expenditure increased by 261% in the same year. It reflected that the company’s strategy to improve its technology that could enhance users’ experience and website accessibility (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014). In 2013, the return on equity improved 0.27% to 9.64%. The company generated net income of $1,491 million in 2013 as compared to $32 million and $668 million in 2012 and 2011 respectively (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014). It suggested that the company was able to capitalize higher returns from the investment that it made in the previous years. Furthermore, the company was in a better position to explore further avenues of revenues on its website. It has invested in several support businesses that would eventually contribute to the expected increase in the company’s profits. Higher return on equity ratio value implied that the company’s shareholders could expect better returns on their investments. The findings are also supported by an improvement in the company’s earnings per share (EPS) recorded in 2013. The last EPS reported by the company was $0.62 as compared to $0.02 in 2012 (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014).

Another important ratio that was included in this report is the cash flow ratio. The cash flow ratio assists in determining whether a company is able to generate enough cash flows from its operating activities that could cover obligations of its current liabilities (Ibarra, 2009). It is calculated by “dividing operating cash flows by current liabilities of the company” (Black & Al-Kilani, 2013). It is an important measure of financial performance as it does not use the company’s profits, which could easily be manipulated, to ascertain the company’s ability to settle its debt and trade related obligations (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2014). The cash flow ratio value improved significantly in 2013 i.e. from 1.53 in 2012 to 3.84. It implied that the company was able to generate higher cash flows from its business operations, which were almost four times its current liabilities. In 2013, the company’s cash flows from operations increased by $2.610 million (Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report), 2014). On Even after paying all its current liabilities, the company would have sufficient cash to pay off its long-term liabilities. It could be anticipated that the company would face minimal problems related to its short-term liabilities and trade obligations.

Risk Assessment

Based on the financial ratio analysis of Facebook, Inc., it could be suggested that there were no immediate threats facing the company except certain litigation related to intellectual property claims. The company’s had a strong liquidity position. The strong liquidity position of the company reflected that it would face no problems in the short term. It suggested that a low level of risk is associated with investment in the company. Moreover, the company had low asset utilization. It implied that the company was not making efficient use of its assets to generate the desirable level of revenues. Such situation faced by the company could lead to problems for the company in the future. It also implied that there are risks associated with investment in the company’s stocks. However, if the company further improves its technology and expands its global network then this risk could be mitigated.

The company managed to maintain a low level of total debt in comparison to its total equity. The company proved that it could reduce its dependency on the external debt by generating high cash flows from operations. It also suggested that if the company would require additional capital in the future then it would face fewer difficulties. The expected interest costs would also be lower, as well. The leverage position of the company suggested that there is a low level of risk associated with investment in the company’s stocks.

The profitability of the company fluctuated in the last three years. However, it is understood that profits of any business tend to fluctuate with changes in business and market conditions. Moreover, it was noted that a sharp decline in the company’s profits in 2012 was mainly due to the significant amount of research and development expenditure made by the company to improve its technology and users’ experience. The company generated healthy profits in 2013, and such profits could also be expected from the company’s business in the coming years. The risk level associated with the company’s profits is low.

A better indicator of financial performance was included in this report i.e. the cash flow ratio. The company generated strong cash flows from its operating activities in the last three years. The ratio values indicated that there were no immediate risks faced by the company. It could be suggested that there is a low level of risk associated with the company’s ability to generate cash flows from operations.

The following table summarizes the risk profile of the company, which is evaluated on the basis of the company’s financial performance recorded in the last three years.

The overall risk level associated with investment in the company’s stocks remains low. It is perceived that investments with low risks are expected to generate low returns for investors. In the case of Facebook, an investor could also expect slow and steady growth in the value of its stocks (Baker, Bradley, & Taliaferro, 2014). For a moderate investor, it could favor long term holding of the company’s stocks (Kumar, 2009). An investment in the company’s stocks could generate capital gains in the long term. Moreover, a moderate investor could invest in other similar stocks to reduce the risk level associated with low asset utilization.

Recommendations

In the recent years, technology-oriented companies have outperformed other businesses in terms of their ability to generate profits. However, it was also noted that such companies often failed to maintain their competitive edge and fell behind other companies that introduced new and better technologies (Heinrichs, Lim, & Lim, 2011). Therefore, a cautious approach has to be maintained when making investment in these companies. Since 2004 Facebook proved its ability to outperform other social networking websites, and it continued to improve its technology that not only attracted billions of active users to use its website, but also made the company’s position impeccable in the IT industry. Other companies such as Google and Microsoft on various occasions tried to challenge Facebook’s position in the social networking industry, but they failed (Curran, Morrison, & Mc Cauley, 2012).

The financial analysis of the company clearly reflected that the company is less likely to face any major risks or threats from other websites. However, it must not stop its innovative process. It should introduce new ways of attracting users in non-English countries such as China where Chinese websites have the major share of social networking market. Moreover, the company should simplify its marketing tools and packages offered to businesses and individuals. For a moderate investor, investment in the company’s stocks is favorable as they offer long-term capital gains.

References

Baker, M., Bradley, B., & Taliaferro, R. (2014). The low-risk anomaly: A Decomposition into micro and macro effects. Financial Analysts Journal, 70 (2), 43-58.

Black, G., & Al-Kilani, M. (2013). Accounting and finance for business. London: Pearson Education.

Brigham, E. F., & Ehrhardt, M. C. (2014). Financial management: Theory and practice (14th ed.). Mason: Cengage Learning.

Bultman, M. (2012). Facebook IPO to make Dobbs Ferry’s Mark Zuckerberg a $24 billion man. Web.

Curran, K., Morrison, S., & Mc Cauley, S. (2012). Google+ vs Facebook: The comparison. Telkomnika, 10 (2), 379-388.

Facebook, Inc. (FB). (2014a). Web.

Facebook, Inc. (FB). (2014b). Web.

Facebook Inc. Form 10-K (Annual Report). (2014). Web.

Heinrichs, J.H., Lim, J.S., & Lim, K.S. (2011). Influence of social networking site and user access method on social media evaluation. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 10 (6), 347-355.

Ibarra, V. C. (2009). Cash flow ratios: Tools for financial analysis. Journal of International Business Research , 8, 91-107.

Kumar, A. (2009). Who Gambles in the stock market? Journal of Finance, 64 (4), 1889-1933.

Tabbush, V. C., Trueman, B., Levine, D., Opler, T., Brandwein, & Cohen, A. (2011). MBA primer: Finance 3.0 instructor-led printed access card (3rd ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Thompson, ‎James R., Williams, Edward E., & Findlay, ‎M. Chapman (2009). Models for Investors in real world markets. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Van-Tien Dao, W., Nhat Hanh Le, A., Ming-Sung Cheng, J., & Chen, D. C. (2014). Social media advertising value. International Journal of Advertising, 33 (2), 271-294.

Introduction

Computer crime has increased in the recent past due to the high rate of technological advancement that is happening globally. The term ‘computer crime’ is used to refer to all crimes that are done using a computer. The crimes done using a network also fall under the category of computer crimes. These crimes are sometimes referred to as cybercrimes.

The use of social media has increased, with many people opening accounts with various social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. Some people even consider it a necessity because of the way it has eased communication for business people, students and any other person interested in meeting people. Most of these people are strangers to one another and this is where the danger of computer crime arises. People are devising new ways of committing cybercrimes each day and by using social networks such as Facebook, there are people who are opening numerous accounts with a fake profiles. Facebook, as one of the many social network sites, shall be addressed in this paper and after looking at the dangers that such sites pose to the contemporary world, a conclusion shall be arrived at that the world would be a safer place without such sites.

On-line predators using Facebook and how they operate

Computer crimes occur when a particular computer is used to commit a crime. They may also occur when a computer is targeted by people who want to commit a crime. These crimes are committed by people who are well versed with the computer and the internet systems and are thus sophisticated in nature. The crimes, therefore pose a major threat to the security of a given nation, where the crimes are being executed (Akers, 1998). There has been a public outcry concerning the increase of these crimes. The crimes are numerous and involve different activities. Some of the crimes that have been of public interest include those involving child pornography and the loss or access of confidential information by third parties who were not supposed to know the information.

Concerns about possible dangers posed by the use of Facebook had been non-existent, until recently when it was discovered that these social networking sites were a major threat to the safety of the people. Facebook has lately become one of the most dangerous sites for children and young adults who expose personal information in their profiles. This is because; they have been the target for online predators. These predators target young adults and children who use social sites such as Facebook because they are naïve and hence an easy target. Exposing too much personal information by the young people and especially the teenage girls has resulted in abduction, rape, and other forms of harassment for these girls (Richards, 2007). Online predators are becoming increasingly clever and are devising new and sophisticated ways of getting their target victims. Most of the time, they pose as friendly people who cannot harm these young girls and once they gain the confidence of the young, innocent teenage girls, they end up harming them through acts such as physical harassment, rape, abduction and other inhuman ways that are used by molesters (Steinberg & Morris, 2001, and Taylor & Quayle, 2003). Cases of young people being lured into sexual assaults are very common and are increasing because it seems that either the young people are not learning about the dangers of exposing too much information on their profiles in social networks sites or the predators are using advanced ways to get their victims (Bala and Goyal, 2000). Since the predators are known to use the information given out by their victims voluntarily on their profiles, it is believed that if divulging of such information was controlled, then cases of children becoming victims of child predators would be reduced and eventually eradicated.

To physically meet with their victims, on-line predators use various means that their victims cannot be suspicious of (Jenkins, 2001). Some give out misleading information about their age and their motives in meeting the victims. After they established that their victims have enough confidence in them, they initiate a meeting, where they abduct these victims. The predators at times also decide to stalk their victims and abduct them.

According to Sarnecki (2001), the notion held by many people that on-line predators use force, violence or trickery to lure their young victims into sexual encounters is a wrong one. This is because, these predators, who are mostly older men, use social networks such as Facebook to meet and interact with their victims. The underage teenagers are then seduced into acts of sex which they give in to. This happens after the predators keeps in touch with the victims for quite some time through chats, messages and emails. This makes them develop an intimate relationship, where the victims do not doubt the intention of the predator.

Due to the increased number of child and teenage sexual molestation cases, there is need to address the situation by all stakeholders (Reiss and Farrington, 1991). This is because there is heightened fear among various groups such as the parents and guardians of children concerning the safety of their children. Some of the people who are better placed to address this issue are the psychologists, who deal with such cases frequently (Thornberry, Krohn, Lizotte, Smith and Tobin, 2003). The clients of the psychologists may be both the perpetrators of these crimes or their victims.

Prior to the establishment of such sites, cases of online predators targeting underage children were unheard of. This means that Facebook and other social sites have significantly contributed to the rise of child molestation crimes by these predators. The internet has therefore posed a great danger to the children and the teenagers in the contemporary would. Despite numerous warnings from different quarters about engaging in intimate relationships with strangers, adolescents seem not to heed to the advice and many fall victims to the predators (Matsueda and Anderson, 1998). This could be because of the curious nature but the danger that these adolescents face is great. It is therefore correct to conclude that without Facebook, children and teenagers would live in a safer world, but so long as they are accessing these social sites, they remain unsafe.

Phishing

Walden (2007) notes that phishing has also become common for users of Facebook. Phishing can be described as a means through which a person tries to access another person’s confidential information. Such information includes passwords and information about someone’s credit cards. The person who is involved in the act of phishing often pretends to be a genuine person. Many unsuspecting people have been victims of such acts and have ended up divulging confidential information, which has brought them a lot of problems later on when they discover that the recipients of the information did not have good intentions. People should be ware of these people, who normally use electronic communication and pose as credible people while targeting their victims. The term ‘phishing’ has its origin in the common word ‘fishing’, which implies catching the unsuspecting victim using bait, just like the fisherman would do with a fish. The perpetrators of phishing activities are intelligent people who purport to belong to web sites that have a good reputation, information technology administration firms and auction firms, among many others (Walden, 2007). The most common means of carrying out acts of phishing is through email spoofing. The use of instant messaging is also common.

Email spoofing is the act of interfering and altering some components of the email in order to give the receiver an impression that the mail originated from a different source (Bramoull´e and Kranton, 2003.). This is intended to make the receiver trust the persons sending the email and disclose to them certain sensitive information that they may require such as usernames and passwords, in order to go ahead and commit crimes. Often, the details provided in these emails are inaccurate and the web sites given usually lead the receivers of such mails to non-existent websites. The website are however, made to look like the genuine websites for companies that the perpetrators purport to belong to. Phishing is one of the many social engineering technologies that have been created to lie to unsuspecting public and rob them of their valuables. Acts of phishing are also rampant because of inability of the public to effectively use the existing technologies that deal with web security. Numerous attempts have been made to try and curb the spread of this vice. They include: formulation of laws to address the issue, creating awareness to the public and the use of technological safety measures that can address this problem. The common baits used by the perpetrators of phishing are fake websites, links and attachments. Once the recipient of the emails click on either of these, they may be at risk of having their sensitive information disclosed to the strangers (Yar, 2006).

Phishing activities are currently very rampant in social networking sites. Such activities have a higher success rate when done within the social network sites than in any other place. This is a reason why users of Facebook should be cautious so that they do not fall prey to this crime.

The existence of this vice is a major threat to individuals and companies, which are impersonated by those involved in phishing. One is therefore not very sure of the safety of their passwords and other sensitive information such as credit card information, when there are people who are going on with these heinous acts. Educating people to identify when someone is attempting to carry out phishing has been suggested as one of the ways of curbing the spread of this illegal activity. Another way of fighting this vice would be for those who use the internet to be more cautious when responding to emails from people claiming to belong to certain reputable organizations. It is wiser to contact such organizations using their addresses that one is aware of instead of using the links and email addresses provided by the email one has received.

Spammers and stalkers

Facebook as a social network site has particularly made it easy for stalkers and spammers to access one’s personal details. Revealing too much concerning one’s interests, current occupation, place of residence and what one is doing at a certain time may work against such a person because such information may end up in the hands of a person with an evil motive. The end results of such too much revelation of personal information may be increase in spam. Stalking, which is a dangerous activity can also be a consequence. It is important to remember that not everyone using Facebook is doing so with noble intentions.

Moore (2005) observes that some people use the social sites to target people for their criminal activities. Criminals are particularly drawn too these sites because of the availability of a lot of personal information that may be useful to the criminals.

Horst and Scheinkman (2003) state that; it is very common for criminals or people with malicious motives to impersonate other people in order to achieve certain goals. Because of availability of personal information about one’s birthday, interests, likes, dislikes and daily routine, among others, malicious people may be able to impersonate a friend that one trusts. They may also do this in order to convince the friend that they are able to access confidential information very easily. Availability of such information on Facebook can also be helpful in guessing the possible password of important documents. This is the reason why it is not advisable for one to use obvious names such as those of someone’s pets or favorite musicians as their passwords. The danger of spammers and stalkers guessing the passwords right are very real incase such are used. Spammers and stalkers are also aware of the fact that almost every document requires one to have a password. Due to the challenge of having to memorize all the passwords, most people prefer to use one password for everything that requires them to haves a password (Walden, 2007).

The criminals are therefore motivated by the fact that, once they have access to one of a person’s password, they could as well have access to all their documents. Stalkers and spammers also rely so much on the information posted on daily basis by the people they are stalking. Knowledge of one’s daily routines and also where and what they are doing is very vital in the execution of crime by these people. It is therefore wise for people who use Facebook to try and limit as much as possible the information they divulge to the public because they may not be aware who is reading (Wall, 2007). Caution should be taken despite what many people think as security to the information they give out because it can only be accessed by one’s friends. It is not uncommon for such friends to have the spammers and stalkers as their friend and so they are able to access other people’s profiles through such people. Consequently, it is vital for one to sieve through what they post on their Facebook accounts because there are dire consequences on anything that one does which may attract spammers and stalkers. Walden (2007) recommends limiting of information that one gives out through social networks as a way of keeping off stalkers and spammers. Information about one’s physical address, email address and phone number should never be included in one’s profile. Being silent on one’s whereabouts and the daily routine is an effective way of keeping off stalkers.

Information should be treated as a powerful tool that can be used against a person once it is in the hands of malicious people (Berliner, 2002.). It is also vital for one to remember that once any information that was not supposed to be known by all people has been divulged, it is almost impossible to retract it. Even if one deletes it immediately, there is still a possibility that someone else has seen it and probably even saved it. Facebook should therefore be used only for sharing information that is only helpful to the person but not any other that may be detrimental to the person. With this in mind, one may be able to continue using their Facebook account in a relatively safer environment and enjoy the benefits of be in touch with friends and family members.

Facebook and reputation

The misuse of Facebook has contributed significantly to the damage of some people’s reputations. The damage of the reputation can be caused by either the persons using this social site themselves or by others who are out to malign them.

One can destroy their own reputation by not being careful concerning what they are posting. Incidents of people posting photographs or information that should not have seen by the public are common to many Facebook users. The greatest danger in doing this is that the information remains with the people long after one has logged out of the accounts. This means that even if one realizes and decides to delete, such information is still available to the people. Such material can easily be duplicated and distributed to many other people within a short time and this may result to damage of one’s reputation.

According to Calv´o-Armengol and Jackson (2003) and Topa (2001), such an occurrence is especially harmful if a potential or current employer knows it and may lead to loss of a job or not being offered one. Damage of one’s character also has severe psychological implications on a person especially if the information in the public domain was divulged accidentally.

Other people can also use the information available to them by viewing one’s profile. They can then use the information of photographs to post nasty things about the person, which may bring the person a bad reputation. Users of Facebook should try as much as possible not to reveal too much, as many do in an attempt to impress their friends, because this can work against them in the long run.

Hacking

For a long time, virus writers and other malware magicians did not give much attention to social networking sites such as Facebook. According to Ophardt (2010), this is not the case today because these sites have also been targeted by these people. The Koobface Virus, an anagram of ‘Facebook’, is the virus that has been targeted to Facebook and its users. Social networking sites have specifically been targeted because of the way they are designed to be user friendly. It is true that one does not need a lot of knowledge about information technology and computers for one to be able to operate a Facebook account. Things have been made easier by introduction of mobile phones that enable users to access their Facebook accounts. This means that access to one’s account is not only cheaper and easier but also very convenient (Yar, 2006).

As a result, a lot of people, regardless of their age, social status and education level have been able to open and operate a Facebook account. Although this has worked as an advantage for the social sites and the people who enjoy these services, it has also come with a major safety threat (Moretti, 2007). Some of the users of Facebook do not understand about computer viruses and therefore end up getting themselves into activities that may lead to their computers or mobile phones being infected with them. This happens mostly when users are led to a URL that they are supposed to click, which is mostly about a video clip that is meant to impress them. In clicking such URLs, the users subject their electronic devices they are using to these viruses. The writers of such viruses capitalize on the idea that Facebook users are more likely to respond to such promptings of following a certain link that will provide them with certain information. The response is especially fast if the link seems to have originated from a friend or someone they know. This aids in faster spread of the virus.

According to Moretti (2007), this is particularly dangerous to businesses and companies that risk losing vital information or having the information accessed by unscrupulous people. Safety measures should be taken to ensure that confidential information belonging to individuals or companies is safeguarded. Since it is not safe to assume that everyone in an organization understands the concept of a computer virus, it is important for the people to be taught about it and also on security issues relating to the use of internet (McQuade, 2006). Since the dangers of closing down a business are so real in case of a virus infection to the company’s vital documents, extra care should be taken when allowing employees to access Facebook using the company’s computers. It may even be necessary for the companies and other businesses to block all social network sites, for their own security because there are people who may never learn even when they are taught on the dangers of having a virus get into the companies systems. Such people may go ahead and open links they are warned of or engage in Facebook activities that may endanger the security of the organization. Because of the dangers posed by hackers and scammers, the public needs to be more careful to minimize on the number of attacks, and especially because the methods used are becoming more advanced and sophisticated (Lessig, 1999). An up-to-date virus can also help in protecting one’s personal computer against an attack by the Koobface virus.

Burglary and other crimes

Burglars and other criminals can target a person because of the information they have disclosed on their profile or have posted concerning their whereabouts at a particular time. It is not uncommon for burglars to break into houses, whose occupants had updated that they would be going for a trip for some days. Armed with such information, burglars are able to know when to break in and how successful they are going to be. On the contrary, this may have worked to impress the friends of the people going for the trip, but has worked against them. Cases of burglary and other related crimes can reduce significantly if simple remedies such as not giving information about intended trips are not given away (Sah, 1991). Also, bragging about one’s huge accomplishments in life, finances or expensive personal assets that one has acquired can be risky because it can attract the attention of thugs. Caution should be exercised when posting texts containing information about one’s wealth or financial status. According to Glaeser, Sacerdote, and Scheinkman, (1996), people should be aware that burglars and other criminals are also upgrading their means of operation and how the gather information and should shun doing anything that can help such people carry out their plans.

Usergroups

Once a person has opened a Facebook account, it is very common for them to receive a lot of invitations from various groups to join them. Most of these groups seem very genuine, with some even having lucrative offers such as helping in marketing one’s enterprise or helping in making more money. With such enticing promises, many people end up joining groups that have hidden agendas. This may lead to loss of property, money or other valuables to such fraudulent groups (Goyal, 2003). It is therefore advisable for people to be very careful before joining any groups on Facebook.

Another problem that arises once one joins some groups is the danger of attack by a virus that may lead to loss of vital information. This happens when one is given a link that they are supposed to log in for them to access certain vital information. The links turn out to be a real threat to anyone who accesses them. Worse still, one’s business may collapse due to such attacks. Jackson and Wolinsky (1996) note that it is necessary for people to be careful and shun any desire to make more money through groups that purport to help people do so through Facebook. Caution should also be taken when such groups require one to give confidential information about one’s business. The existence of these groups is a threat to the security of businesses and individuals, especially the young people who join some groups blindly (Mitrano, 2006).

Conclusion

The discussion in this paper has clearly demonstrated the threats that Facebook has posed to the contemporary world. These threats would not be there if Facebook, as a social networking site was not present. Facebook, together with other social networking sites are viewed as great avenues to connect with old friends and also meet new ones. Nevertheless, the same sites are a fertile ground for malicious activity to be cultivated. Child pornography, hacking, damage of reputation, impersonation and stalking are a few of the vices that are carried out using Facebook and other social networking sites. Since the danger that is posed by the use of Facebook is great, caution should be taken to avoid occurrence of incident related with Facebook usage. According to Lanning (2001), children should never be allowed to use the internet without an adult’s supervision. This is meant to reduce cases of child pornography and sexual abuse (Warr, 2002). Those who have Facebook accounts should avoid giving out too much information tat may attract spammers and stalkers. There is also need for business organizations to educate their employees about the dangers that are posed by viruses once they infect the company’s systems. Alternatively, companies may choose to block access to Facebook and other sites using the company’s facilities. Facebook can also be used as a means of reducing burglary cases because at times, burglars rely on the information they get on Facebook about people’s whereabouts. Exercising caution before one joins a user group on Facebook can also help in increasing safe use of Facebook.

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