How much are you worth to Facebook?

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google and Amazon have cornered culture and what it means for all of us.

On the surface, Taplin is writing the recent history of how new technology companies (namely Google, Facebook and Amazon) have managed to redefine and control the distribution systems for content at the expense of the creators, whether they be musicians, writers or film producers. But this book really gets you thinking...

Thought of the day - How much does Facebook make from YOU?

Facebook in June 2017 announced that it has passed the 2 billion active monthly users mark - with 1.5 billion of you being active on a daily basis. Facebook also in July revealed record quarterly revenue (principally from advertising) equivalent to around $40 billion per year.

Taplin, in this book, is promoting a well-oiled argument that Facebook is destroying professional journalism through the popularising of fake news and by 'stealing' the economics of the publishing industry by acquiring all of the advertising dollars that previously filled the coffers of the newspaper and magazine publishing industry.

But stop for a second. By July of this year, we now know that 2 billion people worldwide used Facebook every month and that Facebook's total revenue each year from this huge audience is $40 billion per year.

If you have ever wondered how much Facebook makes from you - given that you collectively, as a volunteer Facebook workforce and audience, are donating between 30 and 40 million years of labour to the platform every year - the great Facebook monetisation machine makes a mere $20 from you, per year? Yep - your daily participation is earning them a revenue of just 5 cents per day.

In terms of company value - your participation has created a Facebook market capitalisation close to $500 Billion - so with this calculation, your participation has generated a value to Facebook of $250 per active user.

Move Fast and Break Things - Jonathan Taplin