Facebook Sets New Vision for Next Decade, Outlines New Features -- Update
June 22 2017 - 12:56PM
Dow Jones News
By Deepa Seetharaman
Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday took a
step toward defining a new vision for the social-media company as
it grapples with how to handle its growing power in the world.
Over the next decade, Facebook's focus will be giving people the
"power to build community and bring the world closer together," the
company said in a statement -- a shift from its longtime motto
"connect the world."
Mr. Zuckerberg articulated this new mission at a Facebook event
in Chicago for about 300 leaders of some of the largest groups on
the platform. Facebook also outlined a raft of new features to help
make Facebook groups more popular.
"I used to think that if we just gave people a voice...that
would make the world a lot better by itself," Mr. Zuckerberg said
at the event. "But our society is so very divided so now I believe
we have a responsibility to do even more not simply to connect the
world but also work to bring the world closer together."
Facebook executives have been contemplating the company's role
following several controversies, including criticism over the
social network's part in spreading misinformation during the U.S.
presidential election and its handling of violent live videos.
This latest vision comes roughly four months after Mr.
Zuckerberg posted a broad manifesto positioning Facebook as the
"social infrastructure" for the world. He said he wants Facebook,
founded in 2004, to address some of humanity's biggest problems,
from terrorism to climate change.
Mr. Zuckerberg has been traveling through the U.S. to better
understand how Facebook can help solve some of these problems. He
has suggested many of the country's problems stem from the collapse
of social institutions, and said Facebook could do more to promote
community belonging.
Thursday, the company doubled down on this idea by outlining new
features for its Groups product. They include "group-to-group
linking" so administrators can recommend similar or related groups
to their members. Facebook said this feature was just the beginning
of how it would help bring "communities and sub-communities closer
together."
Expanding Groups is one of the big priorities for the Facebook
partnerships team in the second half of the year. Mr. Zuckerberg
has said 100 million Facebook users belong to what it calls "very
meaningful groups" or online Facebook groups that are vital to
their social lives. He has said he wants to increase membership in
these groups to a billion within a few years.
The move would make Facebook more essential to users, but also
raises thorny questions about privacy and Facebook's broadening
reach into the lives of its nearly two billion users.
Write to Deepa Seetharaman at Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 22, 2017 12:41 ET (16:41 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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