Despite recent scandals, pressure from rivals and other challenges facing Facebook as it approaches its 20th anniversary, experts say it remains one of the world’s most influential technologies. Ta.
Founded in 2004 in a Harvard University dormitory by a group that included CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company is the world’s largest technology company, known as Meta, the parent company of Facebook and its sibling apps Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. It has grown into one of the companies.
For two decades, Facebook has helped usher in the age of social media as a communication space, content creation medium, and news source, but it has also been at the center of major scandals such as the Cambridge Analytica data breach. Concerns about the impact of the internet, and particularly social media, on the health and well-being, the mental health of young users, and the very foundations of democracy.
Despite this, Facebook has proven to be strong, reporting its best financial results in recent memory, with revenue up 25% just last week.
Even that good news comes at a time when the company and Mr. Zuckerberg have been in the spotlight for the site’s negative impact. Mr. Zuckerberg appeared hurt before the U.S. Congress apologized face-to-face to the families of children who died as a result of online abuse. Facebook has been branded a “killer” product by a senator and the tech platform has been accused of failing to protect young people.
Amid the scandal, social media expert Drew Benby says it’s easy to forget how transformative Facebook has been for the modern world.
“Mark Zuckerberg, with his greed for success, fame, change and the democratization of everything, has truly ushered in a whole new era of information and entertainment,” he told the PA news agency.
“We must not forget how influential Facebook is today through its parent company Meta and its sister companies Instagram and WhatsApp, all of which it has acquired along the way.
“More than 3 billion users per month use one of Meta’s platforms, representing two-thirds of the connected world. Messaging, scrolling through articles, local community groups, elections, and more. , it has completely changed the way we use it in all areas: shopping, entertainment, and how we stay in touch with the world.”
Despite the obvious threats to the platform from regulators and indeed rival platforms, Benvie believes social networks are not going away anytime soon.
“I think we have another 20 years. What Mr. Zuckerberg has done so far and what he’s going to do is mainly messaging, entertainment, and the latest trends, meta, Facebook, WhatsApp. , I think the future of Instagram lies in building the AI that powers it.
“I think there’s a lot of life left in this old dog,” he said, noting that how the company responds to the changing regulatory landscape will shape its future.
“I think future regulation is going to be a big part of the future of Facebook, because the ease with which information travels and the speed with which it travels can make people unhappy, sick, or harm them. Because no one wants social media.
“So social networks have a lot to answer for, and I think in the future too, a lot of the responsibility will be placed on the biggest apps, primarily Facebook and its family of apps.
“The general direction is for social networks to police[harmful content]as much as possible.”
He added that artificial intelligence (AI) will be another important aspect of the platform’s future. Meta has already started investing in this space, announcing last year its first chatbot built using its proprietary Llarma large-scale language model.
Benbee said it’s not this application of AI, but how Meta uses it more broadly, that could define the next 20 years.
“It (moderation) is increasingly a job that should be done by technology rather than human moderators, and that’s where I think AI will play a big role in the future of meta,” he said.
“In the future, AI will be able to detect content that shouldn’t be there, remove it faster, and do other cool things with social media. You’ll have access to tools and technology you never had before.
“I think AI will go a long way towards keeping people safe online, and if done in the right way, it will also improve people’s social media experience. So I think that’s something to look forward to.
“AI is a huge field that needs a lot of attention and is being incorporated into all kinds of jobs, not just social media-related topics. So if you get it right, the meta will go far beyond social media. It has the potential to expand, so it’s definitely one of the areas to look at.” Watches. “
But one area of innovation that Benbee says has been a “bit of a mistake” so far is the company’s investment in Metaverse.
Social media experts believe the company “innovated too quickly” and said it should have waited for more interest in the technology.
Mr. Zuckerberg pledged billions of dollars to launch the Metaverse project and rebranded the company. The Metaverse Project is a 3D mixed reality space that he believes is the future of the internet, but it doesn’t yet exist as a concrete space or platform.
Despite his very hands-on approach to the metaverse, Benbee said he doubts Zuckerberg will follow the example of other prominent technology founders and step back from day-to-day management at some point. Ta.
“Maybe we’ll see Mark Zuckerberg take a little bit of a step back, as we’ve seen from other innovative technology founders in the social media space. I’m thinking of Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, Bill Gates of Google. Microsoft – they still have influence – Mark Zuckerberg probably still has a lot of influence. “But it will get to a point where you will see his other interests take over,” he said.
But whether or not Zuckerberg takes the reins, Facebook and Meta’s response to looming regulations, including Britain’s Online Safety Act, will be crucial to the company’s performance in the coming years. Benbee said.
“Every social network is looking for ways to make their platforms as stable as possible. They want people to stay online longer,” he said.
“It comes at a cost, and unfortunately we’ve seen a whole range of problems arise, from mental health issues to real harm to all kinds of negative activity facilitated by social networks. They are working hard to stop it, but they can do better.
“No single organization is in charge, and everyone is working to make this better. Young people in particular are growing up in a different world than Mark Zuckerberg and regulators. Doing so as often as possible comes with health risks, but also offers opportunities.
“I think striking that balance will be important for the future of Facebook, Meta, and social media more broadly.”
