Facebook is a Monster
“We’re serious about preventing abuse on our platforms. We’re investing so much in security that it will impact our profitability,” Zuckerberg said.
Facebook is a monster investment.
Every day, on average, 1.4 billion people use Facebook. If measured monthly, that number increases to 2 billion people — more than 25% of the world’s population.
After reporting earnings yesterday, the numbers are staggering:
- In the third quarter, Facebook made $4 billion in profits
- In the third quarter, ad sales rose 49%
- Mobile ads sales rose to $8.9 billion, or 88% of total revenue
- Operating margins are nearly 50%
At the same time, Facebook was testifying on Capitol Hill about Russian hacking of the US presidential election. If its reported earnings were great, Facebook’s reporting on Russian hacking was terrible.
Between January 2015 and August 2017, Russian trolls created 80,000 pieces of content. This content was seen by 29 million Americans, who then shared it with close to 100 million American users.
In total, 126 million Americans saw Russian troll-produced content.
For Hillary Clinton, Facebook is a different kind of monster.
