2. HISTORY OF FACEBOOK
•Launched in February 2004
•Originated from Facemash, which was set up
as “hot or not” game for Harvard students
•By August 26, 2008 Facebook has acquired
100 million users
•As at March 2013, grown to 1,110 million users
3. CASE STUDY QUESTIONS
1) Perform an ethical analysis of Facebook. What is the ethical
dilemma presented by this case?
2) What is the relationship of privacy to Facebook’s business
model?
3) Describe the weaknesses of Facebook’s privacy policies and
features. What management, organization and technology
factors have contributed to those weaknesses?
4) Will Facebook be able to have a successful business model
without invading privacy? Explain your answer. Are there
any measures Facebook could take to make this possible?
4. Make the world more open and
connected
Discover and learn more about the
world
Share opinions, ideas, photos &
activities
CASE STUDY QUESTION #1
5. Ironic
Based on aggregation and
sharing user information
Massive capabilities
Very targeted advertisement
CASE STUDY QUESTION #2
6. Weakness: Protection of privacy
policy
Beacon manages account and
information protection
No violation of privacy
Develop privacy policies
Finally, Facebook.com changed its
service and disable Beacon
completely
CASE STUDY QUESTION #3
7. +ve: Largest network & still
growing
+ve: Simple & clean
+ve: Unique opprotunity
+ve: Most opportunity available
+ve: Attracts more users
worldwide
CASE STUDY QUESTION #4
8. -ve: Large number of hostile
users
-ve: Users are unlikely to click on
ads
-ve: Insufficient application
support
-ve: Whether or not able to
control over heavy traffic of users
CASE STUDY QUESTION #4