Probably the most innocent example of Facebook's privacy issues is when someone shares the fact that he or she is going out with friends, does not 'block' this status update from being shown to all readers, and then is confronted by an angry friend the next day -- who was excluded from the meeting. 'Friended' employers not blocked by the user on Facebook might find clues about what an employee was really doing on a 'sick' day. Prospective employers can discover mildly (or not-so-mildly) compromising photos of a job seeker on his or her public profile. But less sexy and even more damaging is evidence that someone may be experiencing financial difficulties, as manifest in anxious, generally shared status updates about mortgage or student loan payments, and this could also be unwittingly made public to 'friended' employers and even individuals with whom the user has a business as well as a social relationship.
Q 4. Where does the social aspect of an e-commerce enterprise fit in the priority of an e-commerce business model. How well and effectively does Facebook's social aspect fit in their e-commerce business model?
Although Facebook's purpose is specifically to facilitate social networking, almost all e-commerce enterprises involve some sort of online friendship. Many products, magazines, and online services (such as weight loss companies) have user forums where individuals can interact. This encourages consumer loyalty, generates interest and traffic about a commercial product or service, and often provides free marketing data for company moderators. Facebook makes social network the primary aspect of its business model, and advertising supports its existence as a portal. The Facebook site is partially entertainment, as the dramas of friends makes a user want to read and share -- and thus exposes the user to advertisements on Facebook.
Many businesses, from small local businesses to large corporations,...
However, a savvy user must remember why the corporation has established a presence on Facebook: to sell a product, not to truly be a 'friend' of Facebook's non-commercial community.
Q5. What would you do to improve Facebook as an e-commerce enterprise?
It is tempting for its executives to cash in on Facebook's ability to showcase as much user content as possible to gain short-term traffic and advertising revenue. But if Facebook begins to garner a reputation as a service that is detrimental to user's security, and more lurid examples of compromises of user privacy leak out through the news media, Facebook will quickly lose its advantage in generating traffic by making openness its default policy.
References
Harkey, Mark. (2006, May 3). Facebook. Stanford School of Business Case Study.
Martinez-Cabrera, Alejandro, (2010, July 8). U.S. Facebook growth sputters in June. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 26, 2010 at http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-07-08/business/21942033_1_facebook-social-networks-users
Perez. Juan Carlos. (2007, November 20). Facebook's Beacon more intrusive than previously thought. PC World. Retrieved July 26, 2010 at http://www.pcworld.com/article/140182/facebooks_beacon_more_intrusive_than_previously_thought.html
Richmond, Riva. (2010 May 27). A guide to Facebook's new privacy settings. The New York
Times. Retrieved July 26, 2010 at http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/5-steps-to-reset-your-facebook-privacy-settings/
