ABSTRACT
The chapter begins with Facebook’s early history characterized by its motto “Move fast and break things.” It then examines the company’s growth, scale, and microtargeting-based advertising model. We then examine how Facebook has become a de facto media company (along with Google), absorbing mostly all of the advertising dollars in the online world and starving traditional media outlets of much needed ad revenue. The chapter also spotlights Facebook’s public relations–driven response to revelations about Russian hacking and the 2016 election, along with its complicated relationship with Cambridge Analytica. Then it explores Facebook’s efforts to expand users around the globe, which have at times led it to forge questionable relationships with foreign governments. The chapter also notes how Facebook and other online media companies have faced greater regulatory scrutiny abroad, especially from the European Union. It also highlights Facebook’s contradictory relationship with China, which prevents the company from operating within its territory but uses the firm to spread propaganda in the US and abroad. Finally, it examines how Facebook and other firms in the attention economy feed on addiction, highlighting growing concerns about its advertising-driven business model and larger impact on society.
