It's the world's biggest social media platform, with 2.3 billion active users. It also owns the biggest image-sharing app (Instagram, with a billion users) and the biggest messaging app (Messenger, used by 1.5 billion people). But despite these impressive numbers, Facebook frequently stands accused of failing to take the concerns of those billions of people seriously, whether it's in relation to privacy, online abuse, politics or mental health.
Last month, prominent US politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quit Facebook, describing it as a "public health risk" which causes isolation, depression and anxiety among users. While the vast number of people who continue to use it could be an indication of enduring public loyalty to the platform, its detractors believe that it's become too entwined in people's lives for them to leave.
Facebook knows this and for years it has attempted to combat problems and tweak the service in a way that might dampen criticism. In 2012, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote a strategy book for employees in which he said: "If we don't create the thing that kills Facebook, someone else will." The platform evidently still sees itself as vulnerable, despite its size.
Facebook says 'the future is private'
Last week, at Facebook's annual F8 developers conference in San Jose, Zuckerberg sought to persuade the world that his company has its users' best interests at heart, and as his speech streamed on Facebook, viewers were even asked to vote on whether they thought the platform was "good for the world". However, the results of the poll were not revealed.
"The three fastest-growing areas of online communication are private messaging, Groups and Stories."
Throughout the speech, Zuckerberg stressed that privacy was at the core of the company.
"Privacy gives us the freedom to be ourselves," he said, asserting that "the future is private".
He would find it difficult to make such a claim about "the past". There have been dozens of privacy scandals at Facebook in the past decade, most notably last year's Cambridge Analytica revelations.
Four weeks later, it admitted it had "unintentionally" siphoned the email contacts of 1.5 million users without asking. It is little wonder that Zuckerberg's resolution in San Jose was greeted with silence inside the hall and raised eyebrows outside.But "the present" doesn't seem to be particularly private, either. On March 21, Facebook disclosed that it had stored millions of unencrypted Facebook and Instagram passwords in a way that was accessible to its employees.
Zuckerberg's dream of a publicly connected world is gone, from now on he wants us to interact in silos
But is the act of asking people to express themselves and share material online compatible with any kind of privacy? Zuckerberg believes it is. His particular definition of privacy, stated repeatedly during F8, is to keep users' data away from strangers.
His former dream of a connected world that pooled its ideas and thoughts in a publicly accessible space has gone. From now on, Facebook will encourage us to interact in silos, our activity visible to selected groups of acquaintances but away from the prying eyes of strangers who might seek to influence, antagonise or cause us harm.
"The three fastest-growing areas of online communication are private messaging, Groups and Stories," Zuckerberg said.
By emphasising these aspects over its News Feed (the constantly updated record of our activities and interests), the hope is to create a more intimate platform.Private messaging, by its nature, is restricted to those who participate in the exchange; Facebook Groups feature discussions around particular topics between like-minded people, while Facebook Stories are intended for a selected audience and disappear automatically after 24 hours.
But privacy does not mean there will be no restrictions on what Facebook knows about its users. Any activity undertaken on Facebook, whether it's visible to the public or not, defines a person.
Even if Facebook does become a collection of community spaces rather than a vast town square, the platform remains all-seeing and all-knowing. It has to so it can sell advertising.
Even more of our data will be created with Facebook's new features
As a money-making organisation whose revenue was $55 billion (Dh202bn) last year, Facebook's ultimate aim is to persuade us to buy things, and there were announcements at F8 that clearly indicated this.
Zuckerberg claimed there had been "a major shift in how we run this company", but behind the cosmetic changes, will there be an end to corporate apologies followed by new corporate promises?
Its competitor to Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, will be made more prominent in future designs of the platform, while on Instagram we’ll soon be able to shop for products without leaving the app.
It's a reminder that Facebook has never been a public service and its exhortation to join more groups, send more messages and "meet new friends" could equally be read as "create more data".
Even more of that data will be generated by new features such as Facebook Dating, and another entitled "Secret Crush", which will inform Facebook contacts if they both have feelings for each other.
In addition, while some features are now less prominent, they won't be going away. Facebook isn't in the habit of slimming down; according to one of its product leaders, Facebook Messenger is growing into a social network in its own right.
Is the new social media platform mantra "innovate first, worry later"?
A decade ago, all of this might have seemed frivolous, even exciting, but in the current climate it's far from benign. As Facebook introduces new features, measures are also taken to ameliorate the worst effects of the older ones.
At F8, Zuckerberg announced an increase in the use of artificial intelligence to help tackle trolls, scammers and other bad actors, suggesting this war will now be fought by data scientists rather than moderators.
Another new feature was the introduction of an "away mode" for Instagram, designed to allow people to step away from the platform when the toll on their mental health becomes too much. There's a sense that every social media platform conducting these public experiments has a mantra: "Innovate first, worry later."
The new Facebook will be known as FB5. The app has changed its look already, and later this year the website will follow suit. Zuckerberg claimed there had been "a major shift in how we run this company", but behind the cosmetic changes, will there be an end to corporate apologies followed by new corporate promises?
As Facebook users watched Zuckerberg's F8 speech, and noticed it clearly displayed which of their friends were also watching, they may have pondered that question. They might have concluded, with some justification, that radical change is highly unlikely.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Quick%20facts
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MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Company%20profile%20
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What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Company%20profile
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Overview
Cricket World Cup League Two: Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars
RESULTS FOR STAGE 4
Stage 4 Dubai to Hatta, 197 km, Road race.
Overall leader Primoz Roglic SLO (Team Jumbo - Visma)
Stage winners: 1. Caleb Ewan AUS (Lotto - Soudal) 2. Matteo Moschetti ITA (Trek - Segafredo) 3. Primoz Roglic SLO (Team Jumbo - Visma)
More on Quran memorisation:
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
more from Janine di Giovanni
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Brief scores:
Toss: South Africa, chose to field
Pakistan: 177 & 294
South Africa: 431 & 43-1
Man of the Match: Faf du Plessis (South Africa)
Series: South Africa lead three-match series 2-0
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk
“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”
“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”
“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”
“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”
It's Monty Python's Crashing Rocket Circus
To the theme tune of the famous zany British comedy TV show, SpaceX has shown exactly what can go wrong when you try to land a rocket.
The two minute video posted on YouTube is a compilation of crashes and explosion as the company, created by billionaire Elon Musk, refined the technique of reusable space flight.
SpaceX is able to land its rockets on land once they have completed the first stage of their mission, and is able to resuse them multiple times - a first for space flight.
But as the video, How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster, demonstrates, it was a case if you fail, try and try again.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
