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Facebook Isn’t a Monopoly, but Something Must Still be Done
The issue of calling Facebook a monopoly, and how we could move beyond the corrupt social network.
Is Facebook a monopoly? Does it need to be regulated? What alternatives to Facebook could we create? The following is an article explaining the nature of Facebook, its consumers, and an idea for a new social networking platform.
Who are Facebook’s Consumers?
Facebook has engaged in some really horrible business practices, and there’s no excuse for that. But there’s something that really does frustrate me when it comes to discussions about FB. Their product is advertising.
I’m one of their consumers. I pay for ads, to attract people to my FB pages, my blogs, and even to articles I’m writing here. But more and more Facebook is being scrutinized and threatened with regulations that are making the company make it more and more difficult for people who advertise through them to actually run a successful campaign. In other words, the consumer is being screwed over.
Is Facebook a Monopoly?
Mark Stair’s view of Facebook as a monopoly isn’t quite right. It’s true that they’re the largest social network, by far, and that’s a major issue. In fact, I wrote about the damage that it’s done in other areas of society.
But while I agree with Stair’s criticism of Facebook, I cannot agree with his argument that it is a monopoly. That’s because a monopoly is an entity with a stranglehold over its customers. As I said, Facebook’s costumers aren’t its users. It’s the advertisers, and Facebook is far from being the largest advertiser in the world.
I also don’t think regulation is the answer, but that should be obvious to anyone who knows that I’m an anarchist. So what is the solution? Let’s take Facebook down with an alternative that makes the user the consumer.
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An idea for a new social networking platform.
So, I do have an associates in computer science, but I’m not really a software engineer. I write a program when I need to do an analysis of some data, or…
