Critical internet analysis and a ecosystem map Media Essay

Critical Internet Analysis and an Ecosystem Map
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Critical Internet Analysis and an Ecosystem Map
Introduction
Facebook is one of the most popular and profitable social networking sites in the world. The platform offers users the chance to connect and share moments with their friends and family members. Since its inception, the platform has connected billions of users all over the world with long lost friends and family members. Schoolmates have been able to organize reunions because of it, and other groups have been reconnected as well. It is crucial to note that Facebook has also helped people overcome or break the geographical barriers that existed before. Building networks with individuals from other countries was made incredibly easy by Facebook. The connectivity this platform offers is one that will forever make it relevant in the lives of its more than a billion users.
As a company operating in the tech world, Facebook has also helped to greatly contribute to some of the major developments enjoyed by other organizations today. Finley (2019) writes that organizations such as Netflix and Uber have made use of technologies that have been developed by Facebook. One of the ways Facebook changed the tech industry is by coming up with technological capabilities to help deal with the large amounts of data it was collecting. Finley continues to indicate that Facebook was forced to create software and hardware tools for its data centers. However, instead of hoarding these tools, Facebook released them as open source. Many companies have contributed greatly to the tech world through the open-source environment. Because of its approach to technology, many of Facebook’s “technologies have become industry standards.” Finley (2019) writes that Facebook has “played a tremendous role in shifting not only in the way we build our servers, but also how we write code for browsers and phones.” Through its open-source efforts, Facebook continues to enhance the tech world and thus becoming a major player in the tech industry and one that will remain relevant for years to come.
Historical Development
The history of Facebook has always been controversial. However, the common denominator has always been Mark Zuckerberg. In spite of the many stories about Facebook and how it started, everyone agrees that it was Zuckerberg behind the idea or who put the idea together. Facebook started as The Facebook, which in 2004 was a social media website that sought to connect Harvard students. However, in a matter of days, thousands of students had already registered. Slowly, the website spread to other schools in Boston and eventually to other Ivy League schools. It is not known if the vision or idea was there from the start, but regardless of that, Zuckerberg has managed to grow the company further and beyond what any of the founders could have imagined.
Growth before IPO
Before going public, Facebook had experienced tremendous growth. The company had shown promise, and with more than a billion users already by 2012, the tech giant had showcased a lot of strength. Before it went public, the company was valued at $77 billion. Dembosky (2012) writes that those who knew the company val...