Is Facebook a Utility?

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/05/is-facebook-a-utility

Facebook, which was founded in 2004, should get ready to become a highly regulated industry like water or electricity, writes a PhD researcher for Microsoft who is also a fellow at Harvard, Danah Boyd:

I'm not going to give up water, power, sewage, or the Internet out of spite. Nor will most people give up Facebook, regardless of how much they grow to hate them. Your gut reaction might be to tell me that Facebook is not a utility. You're wrong. People's language reflects that people are depending on Facebook just like they depended on the Internet a decade ago....And here's where we get to the meat of why Facebook being a utility matters. Utilities get regulated. Less in the United States than in any other part of the world.

by Editor  |  May 18, 2010 at 4:31 pm receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list