Facebook: A Tech Giant's Ambitions and Competition - Essay Sample

Introduction

Facebook is one of the most innovative companies in the world today. It is an American social network company founded in the year 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum, and Eduardo Saverin (Das, 2019). Within ten years of the firm's existence, it has made tremendous strides, such as spearheading different initiatives and enhancing internet access in emerging nations. Primarily, this paper analyzes the competition faced by the tech giant, its ambitious innovation initiatives, and argues why breaking up the tech giant would limit its efficiency.

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Competition

The four main competitors of Facebook are Snapchat, LinkedIn, Google, and Twitter. Snapchat has increased in popularity since, unlike Facebook, it allows people to reach out only to selected persons. Facebook allows people to reach out to all their friends at once. Snapchat allows a user to send a picture to recipients for some time, and it later vanishes; hence it tends to be more private as opposed to Facebook. LinkedIn is another competitor of Facebook that is frequently used for professional profiles. Most corporations are inclined to LinkedIn more than Facebook, particularly when finding potential applicants, while applicants use the platforms to search for new job opportunities. Having a LinkedIn profile is critical for people in search of employment.

Consequently, Google is another significant competitor of Facebook, especially in advertisements. In this digitalization era, most firms are opting to use the internet and social platforms to advertise their products. Thus, Google and Facebook compete for the advertising space on the internet. TikTok is another significant competitor that was launched in the year 2017 (Das, 2019). Within one year of its existence, the firm has over 700 million users (Das, 2019). The rising number of users in the platform can be attributed to influencer marketing. Besides, the firm has a unique technique that is yet to be implemented. The strategy will allow the firm to face and maneuver the real competition in the market.

Ambitious Innovation Initiatives

Facebook has ambitious initiatives launched over the last few years. The company's aspirations exceed the general services provided by the platform that include social networking, sharing of photos, and news articles. One of the firm's recent innovations is its new skunkworks division, commonly referred to as Building 8. The division aims at enhancing product development within the firm. The project aims at coming up with technologies that will type the thoughts of the users. Although it would take a while for the actualization of this project, one can see that it is highly innovative and ambitious.

Consequently, Facebook announced that it is working on hardware projects with the most innovative one being the development of a solar-powered drone. The drone will work as a satellite that aims at ensuring the availability of the internet to people residing in remote places. As D'Onfro (2016) indicated, the aircraft is in its prototype space and intends to use lasers to deliver high-speed internet in remote regions. Although the development of the plane has stopped temporarily, the project is ambitious and highly innovative.

Further, Facebook is currently experimenting on a wireless system, as D'Onfro (2016) argued, commonly referred to as Terragraph. The system will allow for high-speed internet in dense urban regions. For this to be useful, small nodes installed in city centers will serve as access points.

Why Breaking up the Tech Giant Would Limit Its Efficiency

Importantly, Facebook should not be broken up since it is not a monopoly. Facebook faces extreme competition from existing tech giants and emerging ones. Rivalry within the industry is fair; hence arguments claiming that Facebook should be broken up due to its monopoly are not valid. Further, Facebook, over the years, has shown its bold move in pursuing innovative and ambitious projects. A solar-powered drone is a rarely followed venture or project by other firms. The creative practices of the company show that it is willing to extend its boundaries further.

Conclusion

To conclude, Facebook is one of the largest and highly competitive tech giants. The firm faces intensive competition from Google, TikTok, Snapchat, and LinkedIn. More so, the company pursues numerous innovative and ambitious projects. The immense rivalry and the innovative techniques within the corporation are enough proof to show why the tech giant should not be broken up.

References

Das, P. (2019). The 10 Biggest Competitors of Facebook. https://www.feedough.com/facebook-competitors/

D'Onfro, J. (2016). All the Crazy-Ambitious Products Facebook's Working on Besides its Social Network. https://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-most-ambitious-moonshot-projects-2016-4?IR=T