Liu1 Hongzhao Liu Amy Leonard EWRT D002 De Anza Community College 30 November 2019 Critical Thinking Challenge #5 Zuckerberg and Facebook Inc.: American Dream or American Nightmare If you become a billionaire when you are 30, would you be proud of yourself? Maybe this question should be left to Mark Zuckerberg to answer. Facebook, which Zuckerberg co-founded with his college roommate in 2004, became both his golden key to the ranks of the richest Americans and his scandal-plagued nightmare. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg’s story should have been a model of the American dream. The Facebook social platform he led was so successful that Zuckerberg chose to drop out of Harvard to run the startup. The talent and vision of the young Zuckerberg made him a synonym for Facebook, the world’s most popular social platform. However, behind the American dream Zuckerberg has shown is already riddled with holes. Along with the expansion of Facebook’s influence in the United States and even the world, a series of scandals and insiders were exposed. What people see in Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook is not the realization of the American dream, but the embodiment of the American nightmare. Mark Zuckerberg’s history of success actually reveals the cruel reality of the American dream: poverty do not allow people to cross the divide. When people are amazed by the courage and talent of young Zuckerberg, people should also realize that Liu2 his family background have laid the foundation for his success. Mark Zuckerberg’s father, Edward Zuckerberg, is a dentist and his wife is a psychiatrist. During the radio interview, Edward points out that his office always has the latest high-tech products. He believes that early contact with computers has given Mark Zuckerberg a strong interest in computers. Edward Zuckerberg also talks about his relationship with technology. In order to ensure the stability of the family in the future, he loves computers and chooses to enter the lucrative dental industry (Harpaz). Without the affluent family conditions provided by his father, Zuckerberg might have a hard time achieving something like today. People should also think about Zuckerberg’s source of courage. If he was born into a poor family, even if he can use wisdom to make up for the gap in hardware conditions, does he still have the courage to drop out of Harvard? In fact, Zuckerberg, who became a billionaire, gave the answer to this question in his speech at the Harvard opening ceremony. When he reflected on his own success, he mentioned “If I had to support my family growing up instead of having time to code...I wouldn’t be standing here today” (Clifford). The economic freedom given by the family. It is the first step towards Zuckerberg’s American dream. If the foundation of this dream is based on the economic situation without worries, can we call it the American dream? Even if people ignore the reality of the American dream reflected in Zuckerberg’s story, people should still be worried about the capitalist ambitions represented by the growing Facebook. People respect freedom of speech, but this is not a reason to incite racial rivalry or political party opposition. Concerns about hate speech on Facebook have spread from the United States to abroad. Dr. Anat Ben-David is a senior lecturer in Liu3 political science at the Open University of Israel. She and Ariadna Matamoros-Fernandez from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, after tracking the comments made by the Spanish extreme right-wing party on Facebook, expresses their expectations for the Facebook community norms and concerns about hate speech. Ben-David realizes that hate speech for immigrants and foreigners spread with the Facebook page, causing a wider range of opposition. She also points out the influence of implicit discrimination in this process. Up to 25% of anti-immigrant links posted by these extreme right-wing parties have far more influence than other parties that posted positive information (BenDavid 1183). Facebook’s personalized recommendation algorithm increases the user’s stickiness to the social platform, but it also runs counter to the concept of democracy and equality. This status quo is not unrelated to Mark Zuckerberg’s absolute power in Facebook Inc. In May 2019, Chris Hughes, co-founder of Zuckerberg’s university roommate and Facebook Inc., published “It’s Time to Break Up Facebook.” at The New York Times. His monopoly on Facebook and Zuckerberg’s power in this article. The accusation caused an uproar. One point Hughes emphasizes is the suppression of absolute power by the American spirit. The current Facebook almost cuts off opportunities for other social media platforms, which has hindered Facebook’s internal innovation and the development of the social media market (Hughes). Everyone knows that the decentralization of power is part of the American spirit. From history, we can see the corruption caused by the expansion of government power, and we can also see the damage to marginalized groups when religion dominates American society. The monopoly of any kind of power will lead to a total collapse, both political and social. Liu4 When unmatched Facebook dominates people’s social life and even the logic of thinking, it has become a nightmare in our subconscious. Even more daunting is Zuckerberg and his Facebook’s reliance on capital and opinion to meddle in American political elections. Political elections are actually the core of a democratic country because it theoretically reflects the will of the people and influences the direction of a country. When Facebook took the lead in economic and social speech, it became a powerful political weapon for Zuckerberg, or the interest groups behind him. Yael Eisenstat is an official of the CIA and a consultant to the White House, and she is also the elections integrity head of Facebook. In her article published in The Washington Post, Eisenstat calls Facebook “one of the biggest threats to our democracy.” Ignore Facebook’s inclusion of all users’ speeches, including discriminatory remarks, its most serious problem is their publication of the false and forged advertising. Eisenstat believes that social media like Facebook has exacerbated the “culture of fear” of American society. Election advertisements that have not been censored and are not publicly available have “tilted the playing field toward the most salacious and fanatical voices” (Eisenstat). Although the advertising of Facebook is the price of users using the platform for free, the lack of transparency in campaign advertising actually affects a fair and free competitive environment. If Facebook’s emergence as a powerful new force in society will only cause people to be uneasily disturbed, then its malicious control of user privacy and indifference to sexual harassment can prove to people that it is morally unscrupulous. As people become more involved in the online world, they are equally aware of the importance of protecting their Liu5 privacy. After tracking 5,072 Facebook users, Frederic Stutzman and his team realizes that there was a conflict of privacy between the platform and the user (Stutzman et al. 3). Its specific performance is the user’s restrictions on publicly shared data and Facebook’s intensification of the spread of website data. Stutzman et al. likens this conflict of privacy to “a modern Sisyphus.” Users are actually faced with a dilemma. According to Stutzman et al., “some consumers strive to reach their chosen ‘privacy spot’—their desired balance between revealing and protecting—only to be taken back by the next privacy challenge” (Stutzman et al. 9). When Facebook users try to hide themselves, Facebook expands the scope of data sharing with ever-changing privacy policies and algorithms. For these users, people who follow their privacy information to find their home page are like monsters in horror movies. If watching a horror movie satisfies these people’s desire for violence and sexuality, then Facebook is the villain that provides the flesh and blood of the user to the monster (Jarrett 446). The difference between Facebook and the horror movies is that it does not have the power to save themselves in the end of the movie. Level Up, a British feminist movement, finds in the survey that more than a quarter of female Facebook users have experienced online sexual harassment. Their private photos were circulated on the Internet without their permission. Their comment areas and chats are filled with pictures and texts with sexual cues. Besides, 52% of women who have been sexually harassed have not received a serious response from Facebook (Noor). If online sexual harassment can be attributed to censorship problems caused by a large user base, then Facebook’s response to these women proves their indifference to this situation. As the world's largest social networking platform, Facebook has in effect shown its Liu6 dismissive attitude towards ethical standards with its indifferent response and slow reform. Zuckerberg and his company only want to earn traffic on users who satisfy their voyeurism and harassment desires, rather than stopping their behavior. The success of Zuckerberg and his Facebook proves that the realization of the American dream is actually based on solid capital, market monopoly, collusion between politics and business, and morality without bottom line. It is hard to understand why a young startup is going to the point where it is today. We cannot deny that Zuckerberg and Facebook Inc. provide people with a space to speak freely, but the American dream they represent has deteriorated in the process of expansion and profitability. Facebook’s story is only part of the American nightmare. People have seen too much ambition and disrespect from various companies and organizations. The evolution of the American dream to the American nightmare actually reflects the weakening or even disappearance of American traditional values. For people in the information age, retaining critical thinking and paying attention to protests will be the first step in returning to the real world. Liu7 Works Cited Ben-David, Anat, and Matamoros-Fernandez, Ariadna. “Hate Speech and Covert Discrimination on Social Media: Monitoring the Facebook Pages of Extreme-right Political Parties in Spain.” International Journal of Communication, vol. 10, 2016, pp. 1167-1193, https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/3697. Clifford, Catherine. “Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg: Success Like Mine Only Happens with Luck, and That’s a Huge Problem We Need to Fix.” CNBC, 24 Jul. 2017, www.cnbc.com/2017/07/24/billionaire-mark-zuckerberg-success-like-mine-onlyhappens-with-luck.html. Accessed 5 Nov. 2019. Eisenstat, Yael. “I Worked on Political Ads at Facebook. They Profit by Manipulating Us.” The Washington Post, 4 Nov. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/11/04/iworked-political-ads-facebook-they-profit-by-manipulating-us/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2019. Jarrett, Christian. “The Lure of Horror.” Monsters: A Bedford Spotlight Reader, edited by Andrew Hoffman, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015, pp. 436-449. Hapraz, J. Beth. “Dr. Zuckerberg Talks About His Son Mark’s Upbringing.” Salon, 5 Feb. 2011, www.salon.com/2011/02/04/mark_zuckerberg_dad_interview/. Accessed 2 Nov. 2019. Hughes, Chris. “It’s Time to Break Up Facebook.” The New York Times, 9 May 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/opinion/sunday/chris-hughes-facebookzuckerberg.html?auth=login-google&login=google. Accessed 5 Nov. 2019. Liu8 Noor, Poppy. “Facebook Criticised After Women Complain of Inaction over Abuse.” The Guardian, 4 Mar. 2019, www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/04/facebookwomen-abuse-harassment-social-media-amnesty. Accessed 17 Nov. 2019. Stutzman, Frederic, et al. “Silent Listeners: The Evolution of Privacy and Disclosure on Facebook.” Journal of Privacy and Confidentiality, vol. 4, no. 2, 2013, pp. 7-41, SSRN, https://ssrn.com/abstract=3305329. Zhou 1 Chuchu Zhou Amy Leonard EWRT 2 De Anza College 26 July 2020 Critical Thinking Challenge # 4 Source List Research Question: Nowadays, short videos are very popular. Is this beneficial to the growth of young people? Anthes, Emily. Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech's Brave New Beasts. Scientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013. Rating: 19 Reading Level: 8th grade Category: Book Note: This is one of the books that must be read in class.The book offers good information while coming up with a good argument and introduction. The examples provided also are handy. Baron, Jessica. "The Key to Gen Z Is Video Content". Forbes, 3 July 2019， https://www.forbes.com/sites/jessicabaron/2019/07/03/the-key-to-gen-z-is-videocontent/#e64600734848 Accessed 24 July 2020. Rating: 17 Reading Level: 12th grade Zhou 2 Category: Newspaper magazine article Note: This news article offers information on how the current generation are into short video content, ranging from creative vines, to TikTok videos. Bowyer, Benjamin T., Joseph E. Kahne, and Ellen Middaugh. "Youth comprehension of political messages in YouTube videos." new media & society 19.4 (2017): 522-541. Rating: 19 Reading Level: College (13th grade) Category: Choice source Note: This article offers an overview of how the young people express themselves through videos and particularly how YouTube has been a channel of choice that they use. Broxton, Tom, et al. "Catching a viral video." Journal of Intelligent Information Systems 40.2 (2013): 241-259. Rating: 16 Reading Level: College (13th grade) Category: Scholarly Journal Article Note: going viral is an online trend that mostly involves certain creativity displayed short videos, particularly among the young people. This article offers information in line with our study. Cheng, Xu, Cameron Dale, and Jiangchuan Liu. "Understanding the characteristics of internet short video sharing: YouTube as a case study." arXiv preprint arXiv:0707.3670, 25 July Zhou 3 2007. Rating: 20 Reading Level: college (14th grade) Category: Choice Source Note: This article provides reliable information on ways one can make a short video and share it on the internet. Getting to understand the type of videos and what makes them stand out can be understood when reading the article. Dowling, Zoe. "Short-Form Video Is Here to Stay. But Is The 30 Second Spot Out the Door?". Martechadvisor.Com, 6 March 2020, https://www.martechadvisor.com/articles/interactive-marketing/shortform-video-is-hereto-stay-but-is-the-30-second-spot-out-the-door/. Rating: 17 Reading Level: College (13th grade) Category: web-based source Note: By reading through the article, one is able to understand the dynamics behind short videos and why they are the most preferred in the current world. Farokhmanesh, Megan. "YouTube Is the Preferred Platform Of Today’s Teens". The Verge, 31 March 2018, https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/31/17382058/youtube-teenspreferred-platform. Rating: 14 Reading Level: 12th grade Zhou 4 Category: web-based source Note: Understanding the love for YouTube by the young people and the digital age integration and love for short videos can be found with review of this article, making it useful for my study. Hoffman, Andrew J. Monsters: Bedford Spotlight Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2015. Print Rating: 20 Reading Level: College (14th grade) Category: Book Note: This is one of the books that must be read in class. The book offers insight and content on the topic of discussion I am addressing. Furthermore, it offers creative works of poets, fiction writers and other gurus in arts that fit well with my discussion. Herman, John. "How Tiktok Is Rewriting the World". The New York Times.Com, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/style/what-is-tik-tok.html. Accessed 24 July 2020 Rating: 19 Reading Level: College (13th grade) Category: Newsmagazine Article Note: the article discusses how a social media company is thriving on the making of short videos as its business foundation, with the young people being the major targets. Karppinen, Päivi. "Meaningful learning with digital and online videos: Theoretical Zhou 5 perspectives." AACE journal 13.3 (2005): 233-250. Rating: 20 Reading Level: College (14th grade) Category: Scholarly Journal Article Note: The journal gives a description and explanation of why learning can be more effective with the use of online videos and other digital options. This gives an insight into why the young have a long attention span and interest when it comes to online videos and use of other digital aspects. Kahn, Eleanor. "Short Form Digital Video Is Big News for Millennials". Campaignlive.Co.Uk, 18 Nov. 2016, https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/short-form-digital-video-bignews-millennials/1415909. Rating: 14 Reading Level: College (13th grade) Category: Primary Source Note: The article contains content that is satisfactory to my line of research as it talks about how short videos have become popular among the young people. Leskin, Paige. "Inside The Rise Of Tiktok, The Video-Sharing App With 1 Billion Downloads That's Owned By A Massive Chinese Internet Company". Business Insider, 6 July 2019, https://www.businessinsider.in/slideshows/miscellaneous/inside-the-rise-of-tiktok-thevideo-sharing-app-with-1-billion-downloads-thats-owned-by-a-massivechinese-internet-company/slidelist/70110012.cms. Zhou 6 Rating: 17 Reading Level: College (13th grade) Category: Data Driven Source Note: This article describes the current sensational and popular short video platform company that is being used by over a billion people, with more than half of them being young people. Madden, Mary. The audience for online video-sharing sites shoots up. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2009. Rating: 20 Reading Level: College (13th grade) Category: Data Driven Source Note: the article elaborates on how there has been a rise in the audience of the online video-sharing sites, which are mostly used by the young people. The article fits well with my current study area. Multisilta, Jari, Marko Suominen, and Sari Östman. "A platform for mobile social media and video sharing." International Journal of Arts and Technology 5.1 (2012): 53-72. Rating: 19 Reading Level: college (14th grade) Category: Scholarly Journal Article Zhou 7 Note: the article gives an insight into the world of social media and video sharing, and illustrates the sensation behind this new trend. It fits exactly with the study I am conducting. Ostroff, Jess. "Video Is the Now, But Short-Form Video Is the Future". Content Marketing Consulting And Social Media Strategy, 2020, https://www.convinceandconvert.com/content-marketing/video-is-the-now-but-shortform-video-is-the-future/. Rating: 17 Reading Level: College (13th grade) Category: Primary Source Note: the article offers a discussion that explains the potential and power short videos has within marketing and social media. This is important and relatable to my work since the target market of such advertising strategies will be the young people who surf the internet many times. Stears, Amanda. "Why Short Form Content Resonates with YoungerGenerations". Midiaresearch.Com, 2 Oct. 2019, https://www.midiaresearch.com/blog/why-short-form-content-resonates-with-youngergenerations. Rating: 15 Reading Level: college (14th grade) Category: Scholarly Journal Article Zhou 8 Note: this resource discusses the reason why the short form videos and content are mostly consumed by the young generation which is within my study area. This source will help satisfy my case study.
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