Facebook, led by Mark Zuckerberg, has been at the center of transforming how the world communicates, and it has experienced phenomenal growth since its founding in 2004. According to one observer, “2010 was the year that Facebook firmly established itself as a major force not only in social network advertising but all of online advertising. In 2011, its global presence is something multinational advertisers can’t ignore.” Facebook has enjoyed an explosion of opportunities but not without encountering some thorny problems.

This case focuses on Facebook use of members’ personal information to generate advertising revenue and fostering business opportunities. Use of members’ information brings up concerns about the privacy of personal information and the policy that Facebook has in place to protect members’ privacy. Although Facebook has made some progress in ensuring information privacy, critics maintain that much more progress is needed. In light of these critics’ ongoing concerns, Mark Zuckerberg’s ambition to connect the entire world on Facebook can be very disturbing.

A key element of Chapter 1 is the notion that change creates opportunities. Change occurs in many ways¾within the organization itself and within the organization’s environment, in small ways and large ways, in incremental ways and in transformational ways, and so forth. All of these changes can create opportunities, some of which could lead to completely new businesses. It is within the context of the changes that have been fostered by the growth of social networking websites that this case is related to the content of Chapter 1.

Discussion Questions

1. How does Facebook’s privacy management of users’ personal information affect the behavior of Facebook patrons?

2. Being a college student you are quite likely a Facebook user. What is your opinion regarding how Facebook deals with privacy issues? What have you done (or decided not to do) with regard to protecting your privacy on Facebook (or other social networking sites)?

3. How can the availability of Facebook users’ personal data create business opportunities for Facebook and for other businesses?

4. Refer to Mark Zuckerberg’s future ambitions for Facebook, as articulated in the next to the last paragraph of the case. From your perspective, what benefits might result if Zuckerberg’s aims are realized? What concerns do you have about Zuckerberg’s goals?