Facebook: How a College Experiment Changed The World

Facebook is a social networking site that allows its user to connect easily with their friends and loves ones. At the age of 23, Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook and developed a few other social networking sites, while attending Harvard University. In February of 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, allowing students at Harvard University and other University to utilize the social network. According to a website called Statista, Facebook has expanded its user to 1.8 billion, becoming “the most popular social network site worldwide”.

According to an article called Facebook Inc.’s Mission statement & Vision Statement (Analysis) by Nathaniel Smithson, Facebook revised its mission statement due to a data and security breach that occurred at Cambridge University. Smithson states Facebook's current mission statement is, “to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together”. Facebook wanted to emphasize the importance of building a community, empowering people and connecting with others.

Facebook provides a platform for individuals to voice their concerns and share information from any part of the world. Social network websites such a Facebook has put a spotlight on a lot of important events and movements that are occurring around the world. When a message or video goes viral on Facebook and other social network websites, it brings attention to these issues pushing for an action or justice for the parties involves. Facebook is also a good tool for individuals to learn new information, whether it’s from other users or through informative ads.

According to an article from Business Insider, Facebook has five core values. One, “be bold” meaning sometimes you have to take the risk to be in the lead of innovators, even if you are wrong. Two, “focus on impact” employees at Facebook have to have the ambition to further the mission at Facebook. Three, “move fast” to be with the top innovators requires employees to move fast with their ideas and being less afraid of moving too slow and losing opportunities. Four, “be open” in order to build a community this requires transparency and constant feedback. Five, “build social value”, allowing employees to engage in meaningful work that has a real impact.

Facebook has a strong corporate culture that is both inspiring and empowering, where employees work in teams to develop products and solve problems they care about. Facebook placed an emphasis on its products and transparency. Facebook provides a friendly work environment for its employees as well as great benefits such as its vacation benefits, food benefits, and health insurance for its employees.

According to an article by Joseph Chris, Mark Zuckerberg leadership style is constant innovation and growth, challenges that force employees to think and respond quickly, and creating an environment for employees to voice their ideas. Zuckerberg has a democratic leadership style. Facebook currently has a flat organization structure with fewer levels. Removing levels from the organization structure has helped to reduce cost, improve communication, and create more flexibility within the organization.

Facebook recruiting strategy is to attract the best candidate. The recruiting and hiring process is reflective of Facebook core values and culture. Making sure the new employees understand the goals of the company as well as the direction Facebook is heading to. Facebook creates a competitive environment that is also positive, further employee growth and development, and create a fun learning and working environment for its employees.

Although Facebook is one of the most popular social networking websites, the company has a few challenges that are preventing it from further growth. According to the article called, The 3 Biggest Challenges Facing Facebook by Adam Levy, Facebook had to adopt the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe, which placed restrictions on the data Facebook can collect. Levy went on to say, “Facebook along with pretty much anyone with a digital presence in Europe had to issue new privacy policies to its user and make some significant changes to its operations.” The article also went on to say that Facebook had to detailed what data its needs and why, for advertisement purposes. This restriction can potentially affect Facebook ability to effectively post ads.

With over 1.8 billion Facebook users and so many ads, many are concerned that the growth in revenue will begin to slow down. Although they’re so many ads on each Facebook user page, the company is running out of places to post these ads; these ads contribute to Facebook revenue growth. The company is currently looking at other ways to engage its user before it loses some of its users.

Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion. According to an article called, 3 Big Issues Facing Facebook in 2017 by Emily Bary, WhatsApp has currently 1.5 billion users but Facebook has not monetized its newer asset.

Lastly, another major challenge for the company is gaining the trust back from its user. People sometimes use Facebook as a way to spread “fake news” so Facebook has to find a way to distinguish quickly the real news from the fake. As a Facebook user, they’re times when I see an announcement of a celebrity death that turns out to be false. It’s extremely important to correct the false news from spreading any further because it can be damaging to the parties involved.

As a recommendation to these Facebook challenges, I would first propose implementing a plan where employees focus on finding new places to post ads to increase the company’s revenue. This plan includes utilizing WhatsApp and Instagram to post ads since they were both purchased by Mark Zuckerberg. Second, develop or implement a system that helps to differentiate fake new from real new and train employee how to spot these as well. Three, keep employees informed about the latest changes by being transparent. Four, recognized employees for the job well done. Five, look at our competitors to see how they are engaging their users and see if there’s something Facebook needs to change.

Based on the information I have gathered, Facebook spends a lot of time promoting its culture and making sure employees are engaged to produce great ideas and lead as innovators. Using Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of motivation, Facebook relies heavily on the intrinsic motivator to drive the company’s success such as recognition, responsibilities, and achievement.