Happy Wednesday Everybody! Did you make it over the hump? Or are you down in the dump? I'm still shook from the outages that we had on Monday through social media. The complete technology breakdown really got my attention. Think about it. That six hour delay in social media across several platforms (specifically Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp), really put the country at risk. As a matter of fact, they put the whole world on edge. After the Congressional testimony that has been given, really made me question what Facebook is doing. FB has accumulated so much market share, so much wealth, and so much of the world's population under its thumb. Looking a little deeper, FB went under the radar in this pandemic. They have potentially reached a monopoly status. I'm a child of the 80s, and I remember the split of Ma Bell. I remember how it broke down, because all of the smaller companies wanted to get a foothold in the communications industry. Ma Bell had the whole telephone industry of the US under lock and key. After the breakup, the market really opened up for all the phone companies that are out there. This opened the door for all the Internet and cell phones that are out there. Just taking a cursory look, FB is a candidate for an antitrust issue. As recently as two days ago, FB asked the courts to drop the case that the FTC is charging. It's interesting how the law is being interpreted in this case. Here’s how antitrust responsibilities are divided between three laws:
- The Sherman Antitrust Act. Passed in 1890, his law prohibits groups of businesses from working together or merging to create a monopoly to control pricing in a single market.
- The Federal Trade Commission Act. Passed in 1914, this law created the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as an independent government agency tasked with enforcing consumer protection and antitrust laws.
- The Clayton Antitrust Act. Also passed in 1914, the Clayton Act regulates business activities and defines unethical business practices, including monopolies.
So these laws breed progress and make sure that there is fair competition. But let's take a look at what Facebook is doing. Facebook is gobbling up these smaller companies that they've used. First they'll partner and figure out how they work. Then, they'll just buy the company out, Then, they turn around and start offering these services to other companies to use. Now similar suits have been filed against Google, Apple and other large companies. Facebook has steadily gained popularity in this past decade. They turned the tide and forged a whole new business model. Further study needs to be done to see their impact on the global economy. We really need to take a look at the structure to see what changes we can make from here. What are the advances in technology? Are there safeguards from future disruptions? What about ransomware? I'm sure people are already working at the next big thing. Companies are trying to make sure that we are staying relevant and staying current in the communications world. We are seeing how social media has dominated the marketplace of many adults, and affecting our young children. I do use Facebook for my own platform as well as other things that I'm doing. However, it really gives pause to the fact that there needs to be more than one way to do things, There needs to be variety and competition. It just fosters better offerings of services. At the rate that shared info goes between platforms, there's something to be said aboutdata mining. We read about these things and it was so far fetched so many years ago. Now, here we are in reality. Are flying cars next? Are we looking forward to a Jetsons kind of world? More zoom calls? More remote work? More moving sidewalks? That's something to be determined. So share your comments below. Thank you for stopping by and supporting this blogspace. Stay safe, masked and healthy. Take Care and God Bless!!!
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