Another nonfiction book about the social network is released that reiterates statements made about a decade ago:
- The company monetizes data of persons who toggle its web-based computer program.
- The company cares about its survival and market share above other considerations.
- The company buys other smaller companies that do what it does to clear the field.
The Federal Trade Commission lost an antitrust case because the Commission did not provide evidence that Facebook was a monopoly. But the Court is willing to revisit the acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram.
This case hinges on the determinants of the social media market. The marketplace is of people data, but the impression is that the market is services or utilities. So, social media marketing campaigns that place people as users instead of data units serves to complicate antitrust cases in that it blurs the definition of the social media market itself.