Meta, Kya Tumse ho Payega?
Platforms and Masters of Universe
Thanks for your lovely wishes as I turned 46 years old during the week. It was overwhelming to get your messages over phone, chat, messages and social media. I am blessed to have all of you in my life and look forward to seeing you soon again.
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DTW
During the Week, Mark Zuckerberg announced a major corporate rebranding exercise for Facebook transition to Meta. Of course, this is just the corporate entity which is undergoing the change and all the apps - Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp would continue to operate with their individual brands.
This rebranding marks the transition of Social Media company Facebook into Social Technology company Meta thus providing fresh start to Mark Zuckerberg. Starting with their results for the fourth quarter of 2021, Meta plans to report on two operating segments: Family of Apps and Reality Labs. Rest of Facebook remains intact- No change in product offering, no change in the corporate structure and absolutely no change in data sharing or usage.
I have written about Zuckerberg’s intentions and ambitions in earlier newsletters-
Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg also feature in two issues about the unintended consequences of Facebook’s success- Size does Matter and 800 Pounds Gorilla Unleashed.
We should examine the monopoly like behaviour of Big Tech firms including the AAFG in USA and BAT in China. This could be done through four perspective- Predatory Pricing; Vertical Integration; Threat to Customer Welfare AND Preservation of Open Markets. Meta in its new avatar may be struggling in terms of technology against Apple ; in terms of customer obsession against Amazon and in terms of superior/monopolistic product against Google BUT it has an incredible resource that could be leveraged in future- 2.5 Billion users.
User Side network effects help platform create a defensible moat when every new user joining the network improves its offering for all users. They are most pronounced in social media networks where a new user brings more connections to all the users. Facebook with its siamese siblings Instagram and Whatsapp benefits a lot from being the biggest network encompassing over two billion users. With 9 million+ advertisers on the platform, Facebook didn’t suffer a major adverse effect of the ads boycott following the Black Lives Matter controversy. This is important as more than 100 top brand including Walmart, McDonalds, Geico, Disney etc stopped advertising on Facebook and related platforms.Moats of user side side network effects and commodification of suppliers make platforms monopolies in their respective markets. They might want to further consolidate their position by becoming more vertically integrated and venturing into adjacent markets by leveraging their existing moats.
Many of the big and emerging platforms seems to believe in the misinterpretation of old age adage twisted as “It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission”.
Platforms have also democratised various facets of our social, economic and political lives. At the same time, they have also afforded extraordinary power to corporations ,political actors and governments to influence public opinion. In light of latest Facebook Papers, nothing captures this tension than Poster Boy of Social Media Platforms Mark Zuckerberg’s ongoing dilemma. He extols Facebook as Enabling Democracy through ambitious efforts to lift voter participation but in India , the use of Facebook/WhatsApp as a hate machine by various political parties is also well documented. Prof Scott Galloway calls Facebook as “Rage Machine” and asks for its regulation as utilities.
Of course, sometimes the predator can become prey as evident by plight of Facebook when it faces a powerful platform like Apple. So, you might see Facebook get into the wearable including watches or glasses to be able to access their customers directly bypassing an iPhone or an android device. Can Meta help Zuckerberg to realise his dream of being an equal and worthy opponent to Google, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft?
OTW
Over the Weekend, I went more into stoicism especially the commentary by Ryan Holiday. One of his extraordinary work is The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living. This collection offers translations and commentary on important stoicism principles as enunciated and practiced by Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. Let me share two which appear on October 25th and Oct 31st.
October 25th- Two Tasks
What, then, makes a person free from hindrance and self-determining? For wealth doesn’t, neither does high-office, state or kingdom—rather, something else must be found… in the case of living, it is the knowledge of how to live.
—Epictetus, Discourses, 4.1.62-64
Two tasks are - To be a good person and; To pursue the occupation that you love. Ultimately , it turns out that the most important skill of all is simple: how to live.
October 31st- You were Born Good
The human being is born with an inclination toward virtue.
—Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 2.7.1-2
No matter how many times people would betray your trust but in reality we are inherently good people and we have been made to help each other and be good to each other.
Of course, the larger question that both the Stoic Philosophers and perhaps all of us are striving to answer and of course beautifully articulated by Clayton M. Christensen in his book of the same title-How Will You Measure Your Life?. Let me leave you with you with one of my favourite lines from his huge body of work.
“Choose the Right Yardstick - I have a pretty clear idea of how my ideas have generated enormous revenue for companies that have used my research; I know I’ve had a substantial impact. But as I’ve confronted this disease, it’s been interesting to see how unimportant that impact is to me now. I’ve concluded that the metric by which God will assess my life isn’t dollars but the individual people whose lives I’ve touched.
I think that’s the way it will work for us all. Don’t worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people. This is my final recommendation: Think about the metric by which your life will be judged, and make a resolution to live every day so that in the end, your life will be judged a success.”
Wishing You a Worthy Joyful Life and Happy Deepawali.
I Love You
Shailendra
OTM
Opportunities through MountainSpeak is about transition from education to world of work. Of course, internships play an important role in helping both parties to know each other better through a short term engagement.
IBS Hyderabad students would be undergoing a 10 week summer internship program from 22nd Feb to 21st May 2022 and you could help them get an enriching experience. If you or somebody you know is looking for a smart cohort of MBA students, drop me an email as a reply to this post and I would get in touch with you with more details.