Facebook and the tyranny of monthly active users

BANGKOK, THAILAND – 2018/07/27: A smartphone displays the market value of Facebook, Inc. in free fall on the stock exchange via the Yahoo application Finance (Photo by Guillaume Payen / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images) [2019002] 2018 must be a bitter year for Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook, who at the same time became the 3rd richest person in the world The bitterness has become increasingly sour, as Facebook's growth of monthly active users accompanies corresponding revenue, which causes the company's share price to fall in a vertiginous fall, marking the worst fall in the history of the market, In many ways, despite the fact that this marked decline may be temporary, it is quite the fact of the enterprise itself, like Twitter's recent correction, where it ejected more than 70 million fake or misleading users, social media platforms are starting to see the error in the growth of users at any price, showing how the quest for a monthly growth of active users (MAU) can very well lead to a Pyrrhic victory.

new form of public utility, users hoarded the platform like so many mites to a light. In fact, the platform's growth model has continued to expand to more than 2.2 billion users worldwide, making Facebook the undisputed king of social media and the world's largest digital media platform. networked economy. While some users and observers have been put off by Facebook's early incursion into ad-generated revenue with embedded videos and hyper-targeted ads, investors have turned to the company with its offering. public (IPO) in 2012 technology companies in the world. The second Facebook became public, the varnish of social good that protected the affable founder-CEO, who has aged under the public eye, and protected the company began to use it. Wall Street demands a very different type of outcome – growth and profits at all costs – that has forced not only the hands of Facebook, but also other social media platforms. These companies have responded to Wall Street's call with the promise of continued exponential growth of users totally reinventing the on-screen commitment, even on smaller screens, with the spread of smart phones and tablets, and much less time, with corresponding erosion.

Pursuing user growth at any cost while simultaneously developing tenuous business models focused on monetizing user data has led Facebook and Twitter to commit seemingly unforgivable (and unforgettable) sins, at least in the meantime. Facebook's long period of silence following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which revealed an abusive use of customer data and a scandalously systematic campaign of influence, in which Twitter was mingled with the millions of bots and abusive accounts many of which were purged the platform – a purge of almost the size of the US Twitter user base, accounting for 20% of the total of 336 million. While markets were initially more tolerant about Twitter's correction, due largely to its voluntary nature, Facebook's shareholders were not too pleased with the announcement of an announcement. Disappointing revenue growth resulting in a 19% company correction in history, eradicating $ 119 billion in market value and $ 15 billion from Mr. Zuckerberg's net worth. Indeed, David Wehner, chief financial officer of Facebook, revealed during a call to the investor that the company would privilege confidentiality and security, which would allow him to earn billions of dollars. model based on as much as I can have, as fast as I can have it still reigns the day.

Are investors and Facebook badysts too suspicious and their sale unjustified given Facebook's dominance of its market segment? Or, has the realization that user growth will invariably reach a saturation point – a real point of growth and decreasing engagement – after which, Facebook and other companies that follow this type of measure, like Netflix , which also saw a negative market reaction due to disappointing subscriber growth figures, will still weaken. Indeed, the growth of the user alone is an overwhelming measure of success, because your vital blood can quickly turn to create the kind of vicious cycle that Facebook and Twitter are now sustainable. Meanwhile, the sharp fall of the market is reflected in increasing demands for stricter regulation and potentially heavy fines imposed by an increasingly militant and repressive EU armed with the GDPR among other laws on privacy and security of l & # 39; information. Indeed, by this measure, the $ 5 billion fine of the EU for Google's antitrust shows that the EU is not afraid to drop the carrot in favor of & # 039; A stick, especially if it marks a point in the acrimonious transatlantic era.

American lawmakers proved their technological naivety when Mr. Zuckerberg was summoned to Capitol Hill, his summons to the EU has not yet received a personal response. Many questions remain unanswered and many unanswered, such as the extent of Facebook 's election interference, the number of back doors that break privacy and remain open. What remedies, if any, can be provided and should they be punitive and / or compensatory? In the end, Facebook, like so many social media companies that have grown in its wake, can reach the limits of a revenue model based solely on user growth, especially for a phenomenon caused by an almost organic rumor. . Ironically, the more these companies grow beyond organic network effects, which have been replaced by Twitter robots and voracious advertising buyers and influencers, the more these companies face risks and enter the markets. In 2018, Facebook faced its first real challenges for which growth is not the answer, but organizational rectitude is. [>

">

BANGKOK, THAILAND – 2018/07/27: A smartphone displays the Facebook market, Inc. (Photo by Guillaume Payen / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)

2018 must be a bitter year for Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook.The bitterness has become increasingly sour, while Facebook's growth in monthly active users stagnates with the corresponding earnings, sending the price of the same. action of the company in a free precipice The fall of the stock market value of 119 billion dollars, the worst fall ever recorded in the history of the market, is far from negligible, even if this sharp decline may be temporary.As the recent course correction of Twitter, where it has ejected over 70 million fake or abusive users, social media platforms are beginning to see the error in the growth of users at any price, showing how the monthly growth of active users could well lead to a Pyrrhic victory.

When Facebook was perceived as a new form of public utility, users hoarded the platform like so many mites to a light. In fact, the platform's growth model has continued to expand to more than 2.2 billion users worldwide, making Facebook the undisputed king of social media and the world's largest digital media platform. networked economy. While some users and observers have been put off by Facebook's early incursion into ad-generated revenue with embedded videos and hyper-targeted ads, investors have turned to the company with its offering. public (IPO) in 2012 technology companies in the world. The second Facebook became public, the varnish of social good that protected the affable founder-CEO, who has aged under the public eye, and protected the company began to use it. Wall Street demands a very different type of outcome – growth and profits at all costs – that has forced not only the hands of Facebook, but also other social media platforms. These companies have responded to Wall Street's call with the promise of continued exponential growth of users totally reinventing the on-screen commitment, even on smaller screens, with the spread of smart phones and tablets, and much less time, with corresponding erosion.

Pursuing user growth at any cost while simultaneously developing tenuous business models focused on monetizing user data has led Facebook and Twitter to commit seemingly unforgivable (and unforgettable) sins, at least in the meantime. Facebook's long period of silence following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which revealed an abusive use of customer data and a scandalously systematic campaign of influence, in which Twitter was mingled with the millions of bots and abusive accounts many of which were purged the platform – a purge of almost the size of the US Twitter user base, accounting for 20% of the total of 336 million. While markets were initially more tolerant about Twitter's correction, due largely to its voluntary nature, Facebook's shareholders were not too pleased with the announcement of an announcement. Disappointing revenue growth resulting in a 19% company correction in history, eradicating $ 119 billion in market value and $ 15 billion from Mr. Zuckerberg's net worth. Indeed, David Wehner, chief financial officer of Facebook, revealed during a call to the investor that the company would privilege confidentiality and security, which would allow him to earn billions of dollars. model as far as I can get, as fast as I can have it still reigning today

Are Facebook investors and badysts too capricious and their sale is it unjustified given Facebook's dominance of its market? segment? Or, has the realization that user growth will invariably reach a saturation point – a real point of growth and decreasing engagement – after which, Facebook and other companies that follow this type of measure, like Netflix , which also saw a negative market reaction due to disappointing subscriber growth figures, will still weaken. Indeed, the growth of the user alone is an overwhelming measure of success, because your vital blood can quickly turn to create the kind of vicious cycle that Facebook and Twitter are now sustainable. Meanwhile, the sharp fall of the market is reflected in increasing demands for stricter regulation and potentially heavy fines imposed by an increasingly militant and repressive EU armed with the GDPR among other laws on privacy and security of l & # 39; information. Indeed, by this measure, the $ 5 billion fine of the EU for Google's antitrust shows that the EU is not afraid to drop the carrot in favor of & # 039; A stick, especially if it marks a point in the acrimonious transatlantic era.

American lawmakers proved their technological naivety when Mr. Zuckerberg was summoned to Capitol Hill, his summons to the EU has not yet received a personal response. Many questions remain unanswered and many unanswered, such as the extent of Facebook 's election interference, the number of back doors that break privacy and remain open. What remedies, if any, can be provided and should they be punitive and / or compensatory? In the end, Facebook, like so many social media companies that have grown in its wake, can reach the limits of a revenue model based solely on user growth, especially for a phenomenon caused by an almost organic rumor. . Ironically, the more these companies grow beyond organic network effects, which have been replaced by Twitter robots and voracious advertising buyers and influencers, the more these companies face risks and enter the markets. In 2018, Facebook faced its first real challenges for which growth is not the answer, but organizational rectitude is.