12. Thid 13. JNJ BTW blog, “Contributing Authors,” itp: /injbtw.com/nj-biw-authors/ 14, Telephone conference with Mare Monseau, Jofnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 21 September 2010. 15. Kilmer House blog, “About Kilmer House.” http:/Avww.kilmerhouse.convahout! 16. Ibid. 17, Telephone conference with Mate Monseau, Johnson & Johason, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 21 September 2010 18. JNI BTW Our People and Perspectives blog, “About JNJ BTW.” htp://injotw.com/about- ini-btw/ 19. Telephone conference with Mere Monseau, Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 21 September 2010 CASE STUDY 7.3 Facebook Beacon (A): Cool Feature or an Invasion of Privacy? I made a purchase yesterday for my wife for Christmas . ... when my wife logged onto Facebook, there was an entry in her news feed that Thad bought a ring from Overstock. It had « link to the ring and everything. Christmas ruined.’ These Were the words of Sean Lane shortly after his 14k White Gold 1/5 Diamond Eternity Flower Ring ‘from overstock.com became common knowledge to his social network on Facebook. Lanc’s purchase was supposed to be a surprise Christmas present for his wife. Instead, news af the purchased ring wound up not ‘ouily as a story on the News Feed of his wife's profile but hhis classmates, coworkers, and aequuintances. as well” On November 6, 2007, Mark Zuckerberg. founder end CEO of Facebook, announced a new and ‘innovative approach to advertising by way of a feature ‘named Beacon." Initially, Beacon created 44 advertising partner relationships for Facebook.’ It also essentially tumod its users into advertisers. by. displaying their purchases on News Feed. On November 19, political and-civie action organization, MoveOn, launched a public campaign against Beacon which mcluded a petition to make Beacon an opt-in feature. MoveOn, Chapter 7+ Technology 215 20. Ibid 21. Johnson & Johnson Health http:/4vww.youtube.com/user/injhcalth Telephone conference with Mare Monseau, Johnson & Jonson, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 21 September 2010 Patient Connections Conference, “How J&I Joined the Twittersphere,” Presentation by Mare Monseau, October 27, 2009 24. Telephone conferenee with Mare Monscau, Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 21 September 2010 Wheaton, K., (2008, December), “Middle road in Moirin-gate was right choice for J&J,” Advertising Age, 7944}, 12, Retricved September 20, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1611223211) Channel thou, was not the only form of negative response to Beacon.” Thousands of users also joined “Faeebook groups” such as “Petition: Facebook, stop invading my privacy!” ‘Incidentally, the Beacon uproar was not the first time Facebook had faces) such criticism for privacy issues regarding a new feature. On September 5, 2006, Facebook launched a feature called News Feed.” News Feed revolotionized the way Facebook worked by consolidating user's recent activities so Triends enue more efficiently keep track of cach other Users strongly disapproved of the feature, although all of the information in News Feed could actually be found with enough searching. Much like News Feed, Beacon led Facebook into another privacy frenzy. History of Facebook Facebook was launched from Mark Zucketherg’s dorm room on February 4, 2004. The online social networking site became an instant hit at Harvard within the frst few weeks ° Zuckerberg then began expanding Facebook to other colleges and gained extensive popularity along the way. Originally, the business plan of Facebook focused solely on college campuses across the nation. The strategy was to provide a social network that would allow students to communicate and share information with each other via a profile. It was, in a sense, a grown-up and parent-fiee universe connected216 Chapter 7 - Technology only to fiends” A key difference for Fecebook, in comparison to competitors such as MySpace or ffiendfinder, is that it acts as a closed communit Originally, it wa set up Solely for the use of colleze students which Facebook had established networks with and the site did not allow outsiders to view any profiles.” For example, a student at Notre Dame could view a fellow profile of a Noite Dame student, but could not view a Harvard student’s profile unless they accepted cach other's friendship. By May 2004, Facebook had spread to the rest of the [vy Leagues and a few other schiools."” For Facebook, this would only prove to be the tip of the iceberg, Tn the summer of 2004, Zuckerberg moved his ideas and staff 1 Palo Alio, Califomia.’* There tiey received $500,000 of Ginsincial backing fFom Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal.’* Venture capital firms soon thereafter began investing millions of dollars into Facchook while the social network expanded rapidly to almost every college across the nation.’? On September 5, 2005, Facebook begen allowing high schools to participate in the network.’® Much like the success and populatity Facebook found al the college level, the social platform took off with high schools across the nation, A year later, on September 11, 2006, Facebook expanded its user base by allowing anyone with «valid email address to become @ user on the site, so Tong as they were over the age of 13.7 Users could now. become part of a network based on collezes. hich schools, employer, or geouraphie region. By Sepiember 2006, the company was helieved to be worth over $100 million thanks to its 9 million users who spent en average of 18 minutes on the site per day.'* Since 2006, Facebook has resisted several take-over attempts and is petsistent on maintaining iisel'as & private compeny. In October 2007, Microsoft purchased a 1.6 percent share in the company for 240 million dollars that ultimately valued the company at $15 billion with over $0 million users. Users now average over 20 minutes per day on the site.'” The online student directory that once took Harvard by storm became a commonality across the nation Facebook Applications and Features Facebook, originally known as thefucebook com, originated as 9 very simplistic social networking site which offered individuals the opportunity to develop and maintain their own personal profile? Shortly thereafter, the devalopers of Facebook began expanding the functionality of the Web site. For instance, users were given the ability to create events, messages, and gzoups! Facebook began rapidly developing additional applications and features. Fach additional application or feature provided incentive for outsiders to join the Facebook network. At the same time, current Facebook users employed the applications and features to further develop their own networks and connections. As of February 2008, more than 15,000 applications Thad been built on Facebook Platform and roughly 140 new applications are added on a daily basis.** Some of the most recognized applications and features on Facebuok include photos, Walls. News Feed, and Mini- Feed. ils Before the Wall was introduced, the communication between friends actually taking place on Facebook was limited. When the Wall feature became available in September of 2004, each user received a space on their profile page dedicated to displaying comments left by others. For example, a user could gecess the Wall of any his or her friends and leave a message on their Wall. Likewise, that user could receive Wall messages from any of his or her friends. In addition, options and settings gave users the power to remove comments fiom their Well, restrict who could view their Wall, and ‘even turn off the Wall feature entirely. Photos ‘There was once a time when a Facebook user’s profile picture was the only picture they could upload to the ‘Web site, In October of 2005, Facebook launched the Photos application which allowed each user to upload an unlimited number of photos.” In order to help with the organization of such photos, it was possible to create albums for each user’s various groups of pictres. Users emald also tag the people in each photo for identification purposes or to alert others that 2 picture of a particular user had been uploaded. Finally, privacy settings for each album gave users the ability to determine which networks and friends could view their photos.’ The combination of these features resulted in, an overwhelming number of pictures being uploaded. By Spring of 2008, more than 14 million photos wereuploaded each duy.”” As a result, Facebook not only hecame the number One photo sharing application on the Web, but it attracted more than twice the traffic of the next three sites combined.” News beed and Mini-Feed Early in September of 2006, Facebook launched yet another two fectures called News Feed and Mini- Feed.” The reaction to these features, however, was unlike any other reaction Facebook had received before. Ruchi Sanghvi, the produet manager for Feed at Facebook, addressed the new features on Sepiember 5 at 403 am. in a Facebook blog She expressed excitement for the features which highlighted the activities which had “recently taken place in your social circles.” News Feed focused on every ftiend within a user's nenworks, while Mini-Feed would display that user's recent activities on their profile page. All of the information displayed by the two features was already aceessible throughout Facebook.” What News Feed and Mini-Feed did was to centralize everyone's recent activity and make it much more noticeable upon logging in. ‘There was an instant backlash from Facebook users on seeing the change in their social networking site, Ironically, Facebook users responded by expressing their unger and disapproval in Favzbook designed groups. One of the first groups. formed. “Students Against Faccbook News Feed (Official Petition to Facebook),” generated more than 200,000 supporters in the first 24 hours and would eventually grow to more than 700,000 members.”* The general consensus was that the privacy of Facebook users had been compromised. At 1:45 eum. on Sepiember 6, Mark Zuckerberg left a post on the Facchook Blog titled “Calm down. Breathe. We hear you.” In his post, Zuckerberg acknowledged the overwhelming amoum of concem expressed by ifs users. He also explained that News Feed and Mini-Feed were intended to prevent people from missing the things going on in theit friends" lives. Facebook agreed! with ts users in saying “Stalking isn't cool.” The final message appeared io show no intention of eliminating News Feed and Mini-Feed. Rather, Facebook was willing to improve the product by listening to the suggestions and feedback of its users, Chapter 7+ Technology 217 ‘Two days later, Zuckerberg, left yet another post (on the Facebook Blog. The first sentence of this post simply said, “We really messed this one up.” Zuckerbers went on to ceknowledge that Facebook did 4 “bad job of explaining what the new features were and an even worse job of giving you control of them.” To temedy the situation, Feeebook quickly established 4 beiter set of privacy controls. They also created 2 group called “Free Flow of Information on the Internet” where users and Facebook employees could meet to diseuss the mishap surrounding News Feed and Mini Feed." Social Media and Competitors Since the advent of the Internet and enhanced communication through open _ platforms, ‘networking has taken off, Popular social networking sites include, fut are not limited to MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, and Match.com, Fach of these sites attracts users for their own specific reasons. For example, although MySpace is designed very similarly to Facebook, it offers a different feel and can become quite a complex atmosphere, YouTube is known for its ability to share a wide anay of videos across users. Flickr is recognized for its ability 10 allow users co stare pictures amonust ‘each other, Finally, Match.com and numerous similar Web sites have focused on connecting people for dates and potentially long-term relationships. Each one of these social networks offers @ service that has the potential to intrude on their users” privacy. Currently. a Jack of regulation leaves many users unprotected when ‘eonsidering user privacy. It can only be expected that individuals, groups, and businesses will continue to test the social networking waters and push the limits. As Facebook matures sites such a5 Google and Yahoo are being viewed as direct competitors, Some even believe tasks commonly completed on Google or Yahoo will soon be more easily or efficiently completed on Facebook. For instance, someone looking to purchase @ particular item may look for direct reviews and ratings from friends on Facebook, rather than tuming. to ‘corporate advertisements end other sources, social Privacy Concerns The release of News Feed and Mini-Feed certainly shed light on the privacy issues that accompany x social218 Chapter 7 + TechnologyWRITING ASSIGNMENT Please respond in writing to the issues presented in this case by preparing to documents: a communication strategy memo and a professional business letter. In preparing these documents, you may assume ‘one of two roles: you may identify yourself as a Facebook senior manazer who has been asked to provide advice to Mr. Elliot Schrage regarding the issues he and the company are facing. Or, you may ‘identify yourself as an extemal manegement consultant who bas been asked by the company to provide advice 10 Mr, Schrage, Either way, you must prepare a strategy memo addressed to Blliot Schrage, Vice President, Global References 1. “Does Facebook Hate Christmas?” Valleywag: Suicon Valley's Tech Gossip Rug. February 8, 2008. _httpv//valleywag.com/tecl/your-privacy- is-an-illusion/does-favebook-hate-christmas- 327664.php. Nakashima, Ellen. “Feeling Betrayed. Facebook Users Force Site to Honor Their Privacy.” Washington Post Oniine. November 30, 2007, hupy/www.washing-tonpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/article/2007/ 11/29/AR20071 12902503 html? bpid-topnews. ress Room: Press.“ Relcase | & Announcements.” Facebook.com. February 9, 2008. http://www. facebook.com/press/teleases php?p-9166. 4. Mattocks, Julian. “Number of PCs Worldwide to Double by 2010," NewsFox Press Distribution. hitp://www.newsfox.comypte.me? pte~041216011. 4, Ibid 5. Catone, Josh. “Is Facebook Really Ruining Christmas?” Read Write Web. November 21, 2007. up://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/ facebook_moveon_beacon_privacy. php. 6. Adam G., Daniel, Marika, Eli, Wes, Karin, and the MoveOn.org Civie Action Team, “Join Our Facebook Group.” November 20, 2007. htpy/civ.moveon.org/facebookprivacy/ 071120email.him! 7. “The Facebook Blog: Facebook Gets a Facelift.” Facebook.com. February 14, 2008. Chapter 7 + Technology 219 Communications, Marketing, and Public Policy, that summarizes the details of the case, rank orders the critical issues, discusses their implications (what they ‘mean and why they matter), offers specific recommendations for action (@ssigning ownership and suspense dates for each), and shows how to communicate the solution to all who are affected by the recommendations. ‘You must also prepare a professional business letter for Mr. Mark Zuckerberg’s. signature. That document should be addressed to sll Facebook users, explaining the company’s reaction to the events deseribed in the case, |http://blog.facebook.com/blog php!) blog_id=company&m=9&y=2006. facebook.” Wikipedia: ‘The ‘Free Encyclopedia. February 14, 2008. hitpiien. wikipedia org/wiki/Facebook. 9. Ibid. 10. Graham-Felsen, Sam. “The Facebook Rebellion: New ‘Feature? Has Users. Upset.” CBSNews.com. September 7, 2006. ‘http: //ww.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/07/ ‘opinion/main! 982347 shim! 11. Tbid. 12. “Facebook. Wikipedia: ‘The Free Encyclopedia. February 14,2008, http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Facebook. 13, Ibid. org/wiki/Facebook. 14, Ibid. 15, Ibid. 16, Tbid. 17, Ibid. 18, Graham-Felsen. “The Pacebook Rebellion.” 19, “Press Room: Statistics.” Facebook.com, February 12, 2008. hitp:/www-facebook.com! press-/info.php?statistis 20. “The Facebook Blog.” Facebook.com. February 9, 2008. huips/blog.facebook. com! blog.php?blog_id=companyé&m=8&y-2006, 21. Ibid, 22. “Press Room: Statisties.” Facebook.com. 23. “Press Room: — Company Timeline” Facebook.com. February 14,2008.220 Chapter 7 » Technology