What They’re Saying: Zuckerberg Testifies Amid Facebook Scandal
Earlier this week, ultra-rich and seemingly malnourished social media monolith Mark Zuckerberg testified before a continually befuddled U.S. Congress about the Facebook scandal regarding the private information of its unwary users.
However, despite getting turned into a plethora of memes during his time in Washington DC, it’s patently unclear what, if anything, will come as a result of the testimony, in which Zuckerberg said that data was even coming from users who didn’t actually have their own Facebook accounts.
Zuckerberg’s appearance before Congress came within the short window of time in which Cambridge Analytica—the other company embroiled in ongoing Facebook scandal—watched as its CEO Alexander Nix stepped down from his role. Check out how business schools are reacting to the recent news below.
In the first of two Congressional hearings this week, @finkd made no promises to support new legislation or to change how @Facebook does business, despite recent data breaches and controversy. https://t.co/72Xuv4DUge @ReutersBiz.
— MIT Sloan Experts (@mitsloanexperts) April 12, 2018
When I opened my file, it was like opening Pandora’s box. (Via @nytimes) https://t.co/VQl9Diu3pM
— MIT Tech Review (@techreview) April 12, 2018
Marketing and Strategy Professor Tim Derdenger talks with @Marketplace @Erika_Beras about the fallout from Facebook’s mishandling of user data and impact on other advertising revenue business models, like Google #TepperFaculty https://t.co/C30HJNX69T pic.twitter.com/74lOiPxOWH
— Tepper CMU (@teppercmu) April 11, 2018
.@profgalloway discusses the controversy surrounding #Facebook via @bsurveillance. Listen here: https://t.co/Yy9i9NQNKv
— NYU Stern (@NYUStern) April 11, 2018
Why was protecting data not a top priority at Facebook before the Cambridge Analytica scandal blew up? “This probably reflects on managerial experience” suggests @Wharton’s David Hsu https://t.co/vBXafqKdGW
— Knowledge@Wharton (@whartonknows) April 7, 2018
What They’re Saying: The Facebook Fallout
It seems puzzling to say a company that is worth nearly half a trillion dollars is venturing somewhere near zero degrees Kelvin, but if you were only reading headlines this week you’d get the sense that Facebook isn’t looking so hot.
Since the break of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the tech giant lost an estimated $100 billion USD in value, and its beleaguered founder Mark Zuckerberg lost an estimated $14 billion of his own worth. Fortunately for him, according to CNN, he’s still worth over $60 billion so he can easily afford more mayonnaise and butter sandwiches.
But the fallout is more than monetary. Trust in the social media company is at a critical low point, according to Statista data.
Janina Conboye at the Financial Times recently asked how the company may go about repairing its own image in “The MBA view: can Facebook fix its reputation?,” speaking with numerous business school faculty members, including London Business School‘s Jill Schlechtweg, who plainly says, “It is worth wondering whether Facebook can regain credibility at all. Arguably Mark Zuckerberg has evaded responsibility for the social costs of social media addiction, the proliferation of fake news, and now leaks of personal data for political ends.”
Check out how other business schools and industry experts are reacting the ongoing Facebook story below.
What @facebook knows about you apparently includes data about phone calls and messages. The revelation could make Facebook’s huge data scandal hurt more than ever. https://t.co/jActrbEB5i
— MIT Tech Review (@techreview) March 27, 2018
PSA: “Harvard Business School Prof. Shoshana Zuboff calls it “surveillance capitalism.” And as creepy as Facebook is turning out to be, the entire industry is far creepier. It has existed in secret far too long…” https://t.co/vSPlAyWnzu
— Mitchell Schneider (@Mitski) March 27, 2018
What Cambridge Analytica is accused of doing, Facebook and Silicon Valley giants like Google do every day, indeed, every minute we’re logged on. – https://t.co/8O9730vddo
— Mark Schaefer (@markwschaefer) March 29, 2018
In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Apple is making their position clear on privacy. https://t.co/OLIl5ihtby
— FOX MBA & MS (@FoxMBA) March 28, 2018
.@profgalloway weighs in on #Facebook‘s handling of the Cambridge Analytica scandal via @barronsonline https://t.co/6zWqfAa3nk
— NYU Stern (@NYUStern) March 28, 2018
