Has Facebook Sold its Soul

Facebook famously keeps 100 percent of all ad revenue profit from any users page

In an age of user generated content (UGC), we rarely think about who owns the content we create? Why would we be on a platform that doesn't let us own what we create? Facebook now marks the platform Tsu's domain as spam. Is this evidence of a mega corporation unfairly using its influence so as to prevent a competitor disrupt it's cash cow?

According to Wiki:  

Tsu differentiates itself from competitors by allowing its users to maintain ownership of the content they post.

I've been keeping my eyes on networks like Ello, a contemporary social network that rejects selling user data as a product. I have a feeling Millennials don't actually love Facebook as much as they lead us to believe. Facebook has such a large market share, they think they can do whatever they like, whether it's exploiting India for a new cash cow or putting down these indie platforms that represent more transparent values. 

I'm not saying I'd want to spend much time on Ello or Tsu, but the idea of not shopping at Walmart and supporting local SMB retail appeals to me, just like the instinct to boycott Facebook is becoming very strong. Instagram, as amazing as visual marketing is, has become a sex-sells micro content channel that is spreading American values across to the globe (especially Brazil and South-East Asia) like a wildfire of celebrities, wealth as religion and the sexualization of women as normal. As Facebook owns Instagram, one has to question the values and authenticity of the mother corporation. 

Has Facebook sold its soul to keep up? It sure looks that way.

The way Facebook counts video views is also misleading. In its attempt to displace YouTube in video marketing and in search potential and challenge Twitter in terms of news on social media, Facebook has lost its soul in its fear of being out of date and becoming irrelevant. 

I will use platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, because they are contemporary and useful however, this does not mean that I can't spot gimmicks, unfair competition practices and values that are out of touch with Millennials. Typically when a mismatch of fit with reality occurs, it's the sign that these platforms are in decline. The reality is Millennials have values that will make you go out of business, if your brand isn't authentic and if you don't have integrity in your business practices it will show. You won't even be able to engage the attention of your consumers. 

Facebook can pretend it cares about doing good, but its history with user privacy is indicative of a more ruthless corporate intent. There will come a day when Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter will be extinct, all of these platforms have become complacent just because hundreds of millions of user use them, but how quickly things can change. 

Companies that innovate and who have products in line with the values of the new generation are the ones that have the potential to disrupt social media. And it's really obvious, this sort of disruption is badly needed. Does power truly corrupt? Apparently so, just look at their attempt to buy-out Snapchat for 1 billion (a ridiculously low sum). As much as content changed in 2015, the evolution of social media was in slow motion. Don't expect that trend to continue into the 2020s, expect instead faster rates of disruption and exponential social app displacement, augmented reality channels, etc.