Facebook Case Essay Example for Free

Facebook Case Essay It has been almost one year since Mark Zuckerberg decided to take his social media site public. Created on the dream of making the world more open and connected, Mark has devoted the past ten years to making that dream come true. Starting while still in college with a product called Facemash, Mark saw the potential for connecting people through the internet. He has devoted his entire adult life to Facebook which took six years to become profitable. Facebook quickly overtook competitors such as MySpace and became the social square of a global village. The user numbers grew exponentially and soon outnumbered the populations of many countries. The resulting global village was seen as ripe for advertising, profiteering, and soap-boxing. Through the growth, Mark was able to maintain and spread a sense of information democracy. All voices and opinions had equal pull and could reach audiences previously inaccessible. Formerly repressed people had an accessible outlet to outsiders. The simultaneous development of the smartphone industry provided portable and affordable platforms for Facebook everywhere. But what is all of this social capital worth? In 2011 an investor purchased a 1% stake in Facebook for $500 Million, which set Facebook’s net worth at $50 Billion. A year later when deciding to take the company public, Facebook negotiated an IPO price of $38 per share for a total company value of $104 Billion dollars. Many were skeptical that a social media company with few physical assets and no physical products was actually worth over $100 Billion. In fact, Facebook’s IPO was the highest initial value of any newly offered company. Mark himself was uneasy and not openly supportive of the jump to IPO. It was not a strategic business decision but rather a necessity based on the SEC’s rules (Facebook, Inc, 2013). Investors and users alike wondered how Facebook would maintain its dominance in the future, and ensure increasing shareholder wealth. Speculation ran wild that Facebook would begin to charge for its traditionally free service. Mark Zuckerberg had to do massive media campaigns on his own platform to regain control of Facebook’s image. The investors were right to be concerned. Facebook (FB) stock lost 35% ercent of its value in the first 10 days of public trade, and to date has not recovered to the initial stock price of $38 per share. Zuckerberg has a history of leaving investors hanging, and even stood up many investors for an entire day in Boston (Gandel, 2012). Mark has more pressure than ever to develop new revenue streams through his Facebook platform to appease shareholders without push ing users away to the ever growing number of competitor social media sites. Mark has stated multiple times that profits are not his primary goal. Now he has to make shareholders happy. Company amp; Management: Facebook headquarters is located in Menlo Park, California. Located in the heart of the US tech world, they are well positioned to attract top talent and stay abreast of all industry occurrences and trends. They have about 10 offices within the United States and more than 20 offices worldwide. Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 and post IPO is Chairman, CEO, and owns 57% of shareholder voting power. Sheryl Sandberg is Chief Operating Officer of the company. Sheryl serves on more than four boards including ONE and the Walt Disney Company. She was formerly the Chief of Staff for the United States Department of the Treasury under the Clinton Administration. She also worked previously as economist for the World Bank. Her responsibilities for Facebook vary from marketing and business development to legalities and human resources for the company (Facebook3, 2013). Facebook’s Chief Financial Officer is David Ebersman. He came from working at Genentech as their Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President. Rounding off the management team, the Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Engineering is Mike Schroepfer (Facebook2, 2013). He comes from Mozilla, where he served as Vice President of Engineering and was instrumental in the development of the Firefox software. The board of directors for Facebook is responsible for the interests of the shareholders and oversees the management of the company. The purpose of management and the board of directors is to fulfill Facebook’s mission of making the world more open and connected. These responsibilities can be at odds with one another. Mark has stated publicly and paraphrased in the 2013 SEC filing that profits are not the main goal, and that he will steer the company owards long term innovation over short term gains. Facebook’s board is comprised of nine members. Two of these nine members are from within Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sheryl Sandberg. The remaining seven board members are employed at various organizations across the country. Marc Andreessen, Co-founder, and General Partner of Andreessen Horowitz (board member since June 2008) Jim Breye r, Partner at Accel Partners and one of Facebook’s first major investors (board member since April 2005) Susan Desmond-Hellmann, Chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) (board member since March 2013) Donald E. Graham, Chairman, and CEO of The Washington Post Company (board member since March 2009) Reed Hastings, Chairman, and CEO of Netflix (board member since June 2011) Erskine Bowles, President Emeritus at The University of North Carolina (board member since September 2011) Peter Thiel, Partner at the Founders Fund (board member since April 2005). Original Facebook investor and founder of PayPal (Facebook3, 2013). Facebook grew from 3200 employees in December 2011 to 4619 employees in December 2012. These employees are distributed across the approximately 30 worksites. The Facebook tagline for employees is â€Å"we don’t have rules, we have values† (Facebook6, 2013). The company has a variety of job areas; such as technical staff, sales and marketing, general, and administrative personnel, software engineers, and product designers (Facebook, Inc, 2013). Between 2011 and 2012 there was a 73% growth in engineering, design, and product management hiring; while at the same time there was a 19% increase employees supporting global sales, business development, and customer service jobs. History of Facebook: Facebook began as Facemash in 2003. Facemash was a social rating system for Mark’s Harvard classmates. Members were able to look at two peoples photos and rate them either ‘hot’ or ‘not’. However, the photos were not obtained consensually and the site was shut down. Though short lived, Facemash provided insight that people really enjoyed using the internet to look at photos of friends. In early 2004, Thefacebook. com was launched with a mission to connect people across the university. Three hundred university students were invited to use the site, and within twenty-four hours, more than 1,200 had signed up. This exponential growth drew the attention of other IT inventors and entrepreneurs. By June 2004, Sean Parker co-founder of Napster, and Peter Thiel founder of PayPal had joined forces with Facebook. At year end, Facebook had reached 1 million users. Facebook user growth focused exclusively on college campuses (Zeevi, 2013). In 2005, Accel partners invested $12. 7 million while user-ship continued to expand globally amongst students. Prior to September 2006, Facebook only allowed students and certain company employees (including Apple and Microsoft) to sign up. On September 26, 2006, Facebook became open to anyone over the age of 13 that had an email address. This not only allowed for an explosion of growth but the development of business pages and a new form of advertisement. The growth continued steadily and in September of 2009 Facebook finally became cash flow positive (Zeevi, 2013). By 2011 Facebook was completely mainstream and an important focus for business owners and marketers. The same year they partnered with Skype to allow video chat, and continued updating the look and functionality of the site. Facebook acquired mobile photo-editing company Instagram prior to their IPO in May 2012. Facebook’s move from private to public was not a strategic business decision but mandatory by the Security and Exchange Commission law. Since going public Facebook has tested and launched several new revenue generating service streams, cognizant of shareholder expectations. Currently the site hosts 50 million pages, 10 million applications, and 300+ million photos (Facebook8, 2013). Facebook Products and Services: Facebook has three main customer groups: users, software developers, and marketers. It has developed certain products and services to create value for each group and maximize their interconnectivity. Facebook has also been careful that the products for certain customers, namely developers, do not cannibalize on business from other customer groups. One of Facebook’s fears is that its developer friendly platforms will allow users to view the same content on third party sites. The delivery method for Facebook’s products and services is via the internet over any computer, laptop, or tablet. Recently Facebook has been focusing on expanding their mobile availability. Most smartphone platforms in the US have access to the Facebook application. Products for users include personal or business pages, events, groups, photo and video sharing, messaging, graph search, and news feeds. Pages allow companies, organizations, groups, or individuals to be visible within the Facebook community with a unique profile. Users have control over the information they share and who they share it with. Many businesses have pages in hopes of gaining an outside interest and understanding their customers. Updates to pages are posted in the newsfeed of a person who has â€Å"liked† that page. An algorithm determines whom the user interacts the most with and makes those updates more easily accessible. A new feature is the ability to mark a user as an acquaintance rather than a friend. This has given users more control over their privacy. The events product allows a user to organize a group meeting or gathering, send virtual invitations, and track respondents. It also creates a forum for discussion so any question asked, for example â€Å"What is dress code? † is visible to all other members, streamlining event planning work. Groups combine a set of people into one space within Facebook to streamline communication within the members and only for those members. Groups can be fan pages, memorial areas, or family members. Facebook also has video and photo sharing options. Similar to Snapfish or Flickr, a person can upload albums of photos and/or video within Facebook for sharing amongst friends and family. This allows people to be â€Å"tagged† within photos, which in turn link the photo to the specified person’s profile page. In August 2012, Facebook acquired Instagram, a photo editing site, which has enhanced their photo service offerings. As of January 2013, Instagram had 90 million frequent users, and it is easily integrated with mobile devices. The Facebook mobile application enables users to link messaging via text, email, and chat so that the messages stay as one continuous conversation. Timeline, a recent improvement, allows users to show their profile based on dates that are most important to them. It allows control over specific sections of the timeline, limiting viewers to enhance privacy. Newsfeed is a consistently updated and ongoing list of connections, likes, pages, etc. that others are able to comment on or like and that is available as the center focus of the service page. This list is personalized to the interests of the owner of the newsfeed algorithmically. Finally, Facebook offers graph search, which allows one to search using small phrases in order to in order to find people, friends, photos, etc. throughout the Facebook realm. In 2012, Facebook updated their iPad, mobile, iPhone, and Android applications to update speed and ensure a consistent experience for users. For software developers, Facebook offers development tools and application programming interfaces (APIs). These allow third party site developers to integrate their content with Facebook. The integration helps boost the rating of the third party site and allows them to take advantage of Facebook’s network of 1 billion users. As of year-end 2012, over 10 million aps and webpages had been designed and integrated with Facebook’s platforms. Social Plugin’s are a very short section of code offered by Facebook to enable the â€Å"Like Button† on other sites for easy social connection. These also increase the website’s rating when searched on Google. com. Facebook also provides a secure payments platform allowing users to buy services directly. This is most widely used for the purchase of games and virtual goods. An example is Farmville where players can purchase virtual farm goods to support the game via the platform. Marketers have access to all the products of a user, plus Ad analytics and insights. These services allow the tracking of ad campaigns and their effectiveness. Campaign data including number of viewers, region viewers are from, unique clicks and opens are all available in a quick view format and as raw data. This allows marketing clients to tailor ad campaigns and increase effectiveness quickly. Newer products introduced in 2012 are Facebook Custom Audiences that allows marketers to find their customers on Facebook, and Facebook Exchange that allows marketers to bid for ads in real time (Facebook2, 2013). Customer Profile: One out of 7 people on the earth use Facebook regularly. Facebook has 1. 06 Billion monthly users, 680 million of which are mobile users. Over 80% of Facebook users live outside the United States. User-ship increased nearly 25 percent from 2011 to 2012. Much of this growth came from Brazil, India, and Indonesia whose growth rates are 81%, 54%, and 25% respectively. By comparison growth in the United States during the same timeframe was only 8%. The company made an average of $5. 32 of revenue per user in 2012, a 6% increase from 2011. In 2011 the average user age was 38 and the average number of friends was 229. The average user also had never met face-to-face with 7% of those friends (Bosker, 2011). The figure above shows the dominant social networking sites globally. Pale grey areas are regions where social media has not yet penetrated in a meaningful way. Currently there are no Facebook users in China, as it is prohibited by the government. Facebook expects with the increase in mobile platforms that user-ship in underserved areas will increase since the availability of Wi-Fi continues to outpace infrastructure construction. Financial: Mark delayed taking Facebook public as long as possible. He was eventually forced to by the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (Gandel, 2012). The Facebook IPO was a global financial buzz. The IPO was the largest to date, $104 Billion at $38 per share. In comparison, the Facebook IPO was 6 times larger than Google’s and 8 times larger than Apple’s (Gandel, 2012). It is a benchmark for future tech IPO’s. The bulk of the company’s worth comes from ad revenue and intangibles. Last minute analyses pointed that the company was not in as comfortable a position as initially thought, causing many large investors to withdraw their interest (Sloan, 2012). This revenue mix still continues. The IPO made millionaire and billionaires overnight, both for Facebook executive staff and Morgan Stanley who underwrote the IPO. Morgan Stanley profited more than expected due to the immediate drop in share prices. They had pre-sold stock to clients at the IPO price beyond the stock they actually had. They were able to purchase the additional shares directly from the market, making a larger profit (Gandel, 2012). The mix of Facebook stock sold was unbalanced. Facebook early investors, including Mark Zuckerberg, sold more than 241 million shares, while only 180 million were sold directly from the company. Shares sold by early investors accounted for 57% of the total shares sold in the IPO. Facebook has two classes of stock. The common stock sold to the public allows one vote per share. The preferred stocks owned by Zuckerberg and a select few allow 10 votes per share. As of May 2012, Mark Zuckerberg owned only 18% of Facebook’s stock, but had a majority control (57%) of votes, allowing him to maintain control of the company (Gandel, 2012). Mark is now responsible for continued growth and profit to his company and to employees, but to the external public shareholders who are already soured and skeptical by the lack luster IPO. One source of revenues is advertisements on Facebook. More than 80% of Facebook’s revenues come from advertising on its social network. The growth of the revenues directly depends on the growth of users. At the same time, Facebook has a lower click-through-rate (CTR) than an average website, which is only 0. 05% and about 4% respectively. In order to earn more income from the advertisements Facebook has to change the way it displays the ads (advertisements on wall posts have more than 6% CTR) but without interfering users’ experience. This leaves company very vulnerable and dependent on continuous growth of users, which will eventually be only marginal as the social network matures and saturates all possible markets. Though the company enjoyed a $32 million income in 2012, their revenue balance is insecure and uncertain. Additionally growth rates have been slowing. From 2009 to 2010 the company revenue grew 154%, from 2010 to 2011 it was 88%, and most recently from 2011 to 2012 it was only 37% (See financial reports at end). The company will eventually hit a saturation rate of customers, which has driven the revenue growth. The average amount spent per user has not increased dramatically. Mark expects that growth may become flat or decline once past the user saturation point (Facebook, Inc, 2013). History of Social Media: According to The Washington Post, researchers at Microsoft studied records of 30 billion electronic conversations among 180 million people in various countries and announced that any two strangers are, on average, distanced by precisely 6. 6 degrees of separation (Smith, 2008). This was the first time a planetary-scale social network has been available. Facebook, the online social network, may reduce a degree or two: Barack Obama already has well over a million Facebook friends. While the internet was born in the 1970’s it did not start playing a role that could be described as social media until the mid-1990’s. It started with the Bulletin Board System (BBS), where a piece of social information was posted for many to see, but each individual reacted to it separately without a way of communicating their reaction readily to others. Among other avenues for social interaction was CompuServe, a service that allowed members to not only share files and access news and events but also join any of CompuServe’s thousands of discussion forums to ‘yap’ with thousands of other members on virtually any important subject of the day. Those forums proved tremendously popular and paved the way for the modern iterations we know today. The dotcom boom and rise of AOL began the first mainstream wave of social media. Communication became instantaneous with more avenues of expression. The Internet Boom epic started in 1995. Nostalgic users rediscover long lost friends on Classmates. com, a social service founded to reconnect former elementary, high school and college classmates. In the world of business and commerce, the dot. com bubble burst in 2000 and the future online seemed bleak as the millennium turned. At this time only seventy million computers were connected to the internet. Currently, there are more than 1. 5 billion internet users on personal computers and more than 3 billion mobile users globally (Facebook, Inc, 2013) In 2002, social networking began in earnest with the launch of Friendster, which opened to the public solely in the U. S. and grew to three million users within three months. Friendster refined a degree of separation concept into a routine dubbed the â€Å"Circle of Friends† (wherein the pathways connecting two people are displayed). This concept is the key to social media as it is currently experienced. Introduced just a year later in 2003, LinkedIn differentiated itself as a serious, business-oriented social networking site for professionals. Social networking evolved in 2003 when MySpace launched, just a few months prior to Facebook. MySpace was a favorite site for the younger U. S. emographic and quickly became the number one social media site. MySpace held that title until May of 2009 when Facebook finally surpassed it in users and traffic (Zeevi, 2013). The most recent launched social network website is Google+, Google’s full-featured social networking tool. It differentiated itself early on with the ability to create multiple circles allowing users to better manage their professi onal and personal image, and the ability to edit previous posts, both for grammar and content. Another key feature is Google Hangouts, which allows instant video chats for up to 10 people at a time. Lastly, Pinterest a social scrapbooking launched in 2010 has captured attention for attaining 10 million users faster than any other standalone site in history, in only 22 months. Currently Pinterest attracts 11 million new users a week. The image and definition of social media has grown and shifted in the past 15 years. The most important changes have been in the scope and interactivity of the media. Social media has moved beyond connecting people to connecting ideas, companies, interests, and locations. Social media sites include Foursquare, Pinterest, and Twitter. Their delivery and business methods are very different from the original Friendster model. Secondly, the media has become ‘smart’ and interacts back to users. Algorithms drive the way posts appear, the ads displayed, and the friend suggestions that are made, changing the nature of the relationship to the software. Global Impact: Facebook has changed the way people communicate, and shifted the boundaries of communication. Facebook as a communication method has allowed users to relate experiences in real time, in a full range of media. Facebook’s platform and newsfeed has developed a feeling of immediacy for many people that is reflected in non-social media outlets. There is a constant desire to have new information. Facebook is both a service company and a data repository. The individual experiences of its 1+ billion users are stored in multi-media. This allows for information democracy on a new scale. As a social site with fluid boundaries, information can move more quickly and unconventionally. This attribute was a major player in the Arab Spring of 2011. Facebook on mobile hones allowed instant updates across large groups of people. It allowed the viewing of images and video by millions of people where they previously would have been censored. What color video was to the Vietnam War, Facebook was to the Arab Spring. The world was able to watch an uprising unfold in real time, uncensored, from multiple viewpoints. Facebook has also affected the criminal justice system. The public availability of photo and video media posted on the site provides law enforcement more evidence. Individual posts and friends’ lists have made finding people easier. Facebook posts are admissible in a court of law and have been used to prove violations of parole, abuses of child custody, and other crimes. Facebook as a platform has also shifted the concept of goods. Within the Facebook platform, users can buy virtual items for real money. Facebook used to prompt users on a friend’s birthday to buy them virtual flowers. The company has recently updated this feature to allow the purchase of a tangible gift. However, purchase of virtual goods for games like FarmVille is still extremely popular. The virtual goods industry revenue for 2011 was $2 billion. Industry: Two social networking sites are currently considered direct competitors of Facebook in the US- Twitter and Google+. Twitter has roughly half the users of Facebook, and a revenue model that focuses on sponsored tweets. Twitter is not exactly a direct competitor. Tweets integrate with Facebook status updates and many users actively participate in both services. Google+ currently has only 343 million users, roughly one third the user base of Facebook. Google+ is in direct competition with Facebook and has a very similar look and feel. While smaller by user base, Google+ 2012 revenue from highly targeted ads was $40 billion, eight times Facebook’s revenue for the same year. According to market survey, 83% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business; however more marketers (76%) are planning on increasing use of YouTube and video marketing than any other form. The current top five social media tools for marketers are as follows: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, and YouTube. Facebook will need to increase its ability to show video ads if it intends to keep the number one spot. In a five forces analysis of the industry climate, the bargaining power of consumers is high. There are many substitutes available and little cost to switching. The threat of substitute products is therefor also very high since there is a saturated market and the differentiation between brands and has been decreasing. New entrants have low barriers to entry because of low initial investment, and only moderate brand loyalty, however they need to be sufficiently interesting and innovative to capture the number of users necessary to be a major player. The bargaining power of suppliers is low. Server space providers and hosts exist almost in a commodity market with little differentiation in product or price. As in most tech industries the threat of rivalry in social media is extremely high (Tran, 2013). There are cut throat battles for patents on features and modes of use, and companies need to constantly innovate and update to stay relevant. Another threat to Facebook’s revenue stream is ad-block extensions. Users can install ad-blocks to view the site ad-free. As these increase in popularity, revenue may decrease. Privacy: Privacy is a current concern of most media users. Depending how the company manages its user’s privacy, it can be a strategic advantage or a threat. Facebook has already endured public scrutiny and backlash for its privacy control. It has a history of changing privacy settings and defaulting them to the most open and universal option, putting the onus on customers to activate a more private mode. In December 2012, Instagram (now owned by Facebook) changed their terms of use policy to state that it could sell and profit off its user’s photos. The customer backlash was intense and Instagram reverted its use policy. The possibility of being hacked and losing customer data is also a real risk. While Facebook does not store social security numbers it warehouses thousands of passwords, and captures information about individuals’ daily lives that could be misused. Virtual or real identity thefts could seriously harm the company. Facebook offers the bulk of its products for free, and its ad revenue is generated from the ability to make details about users’ demographics and interests available to marketers. This information is freely given by users after consenting to the terms of use agreement, and housed by Facebook, so they have the right to use it. The problem is that privacy laws are lagging behind internet use and technology. What is a major revenue source for the company today could be deemed illegal in the near future. Aside from legislation, bad press regarding a privacy incident could just as swiftly hurt the company and cause users to shift to substitute services. Facebook has made it easy for users to spread information instantaneously- even bad news about itself! As big data and data mining become more important for companies, Facebook may want to capitalize on its data resources buy selling information in the aggregate. The company will have to be very careful to remove identifying names and tags, but even more careful how the endeavor is presented to the public. Facebook’s Future: Facebook has been an incredible social force and an industry trail blazer. The concurrent move to a publicly traded company and into a mature lifecycle segment poses large challenges. Both revenue growth and user growth are slowing. There are multiple substitutes in the industry and the competition is rapidly innovating. Future legislation on privacy and rights ownership may require a complete rework of business strategy. Pressure from public shareholders is on Mark to create more value and increase stock prices. The company is looking to expand into large population markets such as Brazil, India, Mexico, and Japan (Facebook, Inc, 2013). The recent change of leadership in China may eventually provide an opening for Facebook services there. Increasing the focus on mobile applications will also slow the inevitable market saturation by making services available in regions with little infrastructure. Continued acquisition of promising start ups will also help the company stay cutting edge while removing future competition. However, Facebook needs to develop new revenue streams beyond advertisements, while still staying true to its mission. The company needs to define these projects before the falling growth rate triggers a major decline in the Class A stock rate. Mark himself is unsure if they can monetize their current business more than currently without alienating users (Facebook, Inc, 2013). One option is to create spin-off services that are paid, such as aggregate data sales. Another is to focus a Facebook platform on job search and recruitment. A third natural move would be to offer a unique, differentiated online dating experience (Tran, 2013). Mark Zuckerberg and his company have an incredible advantage. In the new data economy he has billions of data points that each tell a story and can be used in thousands of ways. Google Fiber installation that increases internet speed by 100 fold will allow his innovative staff to develop services that are not feasible yet. He will just need to keep one step ahead or diversify to avoid being the next,

Development of Television in Developing Countries

Development of Television in Developing Countries Research context The growth of television in the developing world over the last two decades has been extraordinary. Television was invented in the early 1900’s and was made commercially available in the 1920’s. Early television was in black and white and was broadcast via analogsignal, butadvance developments are such that now television is very much a personalized form of entertainment. Television now can broadcast a range of programming which is diverse in nature and taken from all around the globe. McLuhan coined the idiom â€Å"a global village† referring to the diversity of the world into becoming one village with the same thoughts and values. And this is what television has caused. Programming can make what is not a normal item in single country into something that is normal. It can change attitudes and values of a people. It can make one specific program from one country into the most wanted program in another country. Television itself has become all powerful as a medium of communication to the world. It turned the world into a global village. Television makes the unusual become something normal. Certain things cease to be unique or amazing. It can make change one society’s attitude, whether it be good or bad. It can make that same society become similar in its materialistic values to another. It makes the world similar and eradicates the differences, which in itself can be good as well as bad. Good in that we can understand each other better but bad, in that we lose those differences that make a culture unique. And different cultures are what make all of us unique. While television was first introduced to India in 1959, for the first three decades almost all broadcasting was in the hands of the state, and the content was primarily focused towards news or information about economic development. According to (Victoria L farmer: 256) national television system in more homogeneous societies the cultural link between programming and its audience was not clear because Indian government monopoly was predicated on its use to promote socio-economic development. Instead of television naturally reflecting a relatively homogenous national culture, Indian programming was specifically designed to create such an identity. In addition India’s sheer size meant that most of its citizens only received transmissions from within India. The most significant innovation in terms of both content and viewership was the introduction of satellite television in the early 1990s. And since television is often watched with family and friends by those without a television or cable, the growth in actual access or exposure to cable is likely to have been even more dramatic. A number of unintended consequences arose from justifying the construction of India’s television network on the basis of television’s potential for promoting ‘development’. The satellite instructional television experiment (SITE) of 1975-6 did show that some gains could be made through provision of information on topics such as new agricultural practices and basic health care. However, these gains proved to be of very limited scope (Victoria L farmer: 258-259). Broadcast of the Asiad in 1982 was the first Indian broadcast in colour-proved to be a phenomenally popular within India, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the former minis ter of information and broadcasting, Indira Gandhi (Victoria L farmer depicting the nation:265). In 1983 Doordarshan begin with commercially sponsored serials; it was a strategic decision to broadcast appealing, popular programming in order to build broad audience for effective political communication. The first hum log a drama with a family planning message begun arising in 1984. The expansion of Doordarshan reach and programming in early 1980s coupled with the advent of commercial sponsorship created a nexus linking state control of television for electoral ends with the commercial pursuit of profit through advertising (Victoria L farmer: 266). A second major consequence of Doordarshan programming in the 1980s was the erosion of the credibility of its news programming, through blatant use of the medium for publicizing congress party leaders and initiatives. This became particularly severe in the period preceding the 1989 elections, when the conspicuous use of news broadcasts for electioneering earned for Doordarshan the derisive sobriquet ‘Rajiv Darshan’ (Victoria L farmer depicting the nation: 268). Besides that the program offerings on cable television are quite different than government programming. The most popular shows tend to be game shows and soap operas. These shows are based around the issues of family and gender. The introduction of television appears in general to have had large effects on Indian societies. This is particularly the case for gender, since this is an area where the lives of rural and slum peoples differ greatly from those depicted in television programmings. By virtue of the fact that the most popular Indian serials take place in urban settings, character depicted on these shows are typically much more emancipated than rural and slum peoples. Further, in many cases there is access to Western television, where these behaviors differ even more markedly from India. There is also a broader literature on the effects of television exposure on social and demographic outcomes in other countries. For example, Pace (1993) describes the effect of television introduction in Brazil on a small, isolated, Amazon community, arguing that the introduction of television changed the framework of social interactions, increased general world knowledge and changed peoples perceptions about the status of their village in the wider world. Kottak (1990) reports on similar data from isolated areas in Brazil, and argues that the introduction of television affects (among other things) views on gender, moving individuals in these areas towards having more liberal views on the role of women in both the workplace and in relationships. And closely related to one of our outcomes, Chong, Duryea and La Ferrara (2007) report declines in fertility in Brazil in response to access to telenovelas; they also find changes in naming patterns of children, with the names of main characters featured on these programs increasing in popularity. The change has been even more dramatic in India. In the span of just 10-15 years since it first became available, cable or satellite penetration has reached an astonishing percentage in the Bhopal. These years represent a time of rapid growth in urban slum television access. Beyond providing entertainment, television vastly increases both the availability of information about the outside world and exposure to other ways of life. This is especially true for remote, rural villages, where several ethnographic and anthropological studies have suggested that television is the primary channel through which households get information about life outside their village (Mankekar, 1993, 1998; Fernandes, 2000; Johnson, 2001; Scrase, 2002). Most popular cable programming features urban settings where lifestyles differ in prominent and salient ways from those in rural areas. For example, many characters on popular soap operas are more educated, marry later and have smaller families. Many female characters work outside the home, sometimes as professionals, running businesses or in other positions of authority. All things rarely found in rural areas. Anthropological accounts suggest that the growth of TV in rural areas has had large effects on a wide range of day-to-day lifestyle behaviors. (Johnson, 2001). Yet there have been few qualitative studies on the influences of television access may have had on social and demographic outcomes of rural and slum areas. Therefore, in this paper we explore the introduction of television in urban slums areas of Bhopal on a particular set of values, behaviors and attitudes towards various television programmings. Although issues of slum development are important throughout the India, they are particularly salient in Bhopal and even their conditions are significantly worse. By exposing slum households to urban attitudes and values, television may lead to improvements in their status. It is this possibility that we explore in this paper.

Hoop Dreams And Rasin In The Sun - Comparison Contrast Paper

The movie Hoop Dreams shows you the difficulties and obstacles that come in the way of dreams. Although it’s said that if you believe in a dream long enough it will come true, but in Hoop Dreams and A Raisin in the Sun you are shown the harsh realities of the falseness of that statement. And that the reality of a dream not coming true hits you like a brick wall. Many obstacles get in the way of the road to dreams in both stories. In both stories, all families suffer from having little knowledge, and it doesn’t help that they’re all black. Also being poor and living in the ghetto makes things that much harder. Pregnancies also put big bumps in the road to success, in both instances it makes the families come together and try their hardest to make it through. However, there are also many different obstacles that come in the way for each family. In Hoop Dreams, both William and Arthur are given much support to fulfill their dreams of getting to the NBA, but Walter in A Raisin in the Sun is only given grief on getting his liquor store. This can point the young immature teens to giving them more hope that a very rare dream will come true. Also, the two ballplayers do have talent to help them start down the road to success, but that can be very misleading, all Walter has is the nagging of his buddies Bobo and Willy. The toughest of t he obstacles to overcome was when William injured his knee and it affected his basketball career for a long time. He never really did get over it, he...

Nirvana - Nevermind :: essays research papers fc

History of Rock and Roll There possibly isn't an album in history that is as genre defining as Nirvana's Nevermind. Released in 1991, it single handedly was responsible for the birth of what became to be known as grunge and has gone on to sell over 10 million copies in the United States alone (Stuessy, Joe). It reached number 1 in 1991 and was the first album to bring Seattle grunge to the mainstream audience (Stuessy, Joe). Nevermind is a mix of slow, dark songs and fast paced grunge rock songs. With its grinding guitars, pounding drums, and lead singer, Kurt Cobain's distinctive voice, Nevermind found a distinctive way to fuse alternative punk with 70's rock (Nirvana, Nevermind). The biggest influential song on Nirvana’s Nevermind album was the first song, â€Å"Smells Like Teen Spirit.† It reached number 6 on the Top 40 Charts. This song was groundbreaking for Nirvana and the alternative music scene as a whole. After the release of â€Å"Smells Like Teen Spirit,† white, middle-class youth of the United States finally had a style of music to call their own and express their â€Å"teenage anthems† (Stuessy, Joe). This was the first song to emerge from alternative rock and to be known in the mainstream of rock and roll, expressing their generation’s expectations, â€Å"...here we are now, entertain us†(Stuessy, Joe). â€Å"Smells like Teen Spirit† was Curt Cobain’s â€Å"attempt to write the ultimate pop song†(Nevermind, Nirvana). He used the soft-loud dynamics of his favorite band, the Pixies. The insidious hooks also showed his admiration for the Beatle’s John Lennon(Nevermind, Nirvana). Th e style used in this song is simple, plain, loud, and straight-forward. Musically, there is nothing very â€Å"innovative† or difficult. However, the reason it is important to rock history is because it brought America’s attention to the once before underground style of grunge. â€Å"A driving drum beat, powered by Novelsek’s rhythmic bass, and a memorable guitar riff and solo, mix perfectly with Kurt Cobain’s depressing yet humorous lyrics† (Kastner, Patrick). While it has certainly been overplayed in the past years, it is still an essential part of Rock history. â€Å"Come As You Are† and â€Å"Polly† showcase that Nirvana were not only a band interested in seeing people jump up and down and scream at shows. Many people, fans and celebrities alike consider â€Å"Polly† to be Kurt Cobain’s most well written song. â€Å"Polly†, number six, is a story of a girl who got molested and tortured and sexually abused. Nirvana - Nevermind :: essays research papers fc History of Rock and Roll There possibly isn't an album in history that is as genre defining as Nirvana's Nevermind. Released in 1991, it single handedly was responsible for the birth of what became to be known as grunge and has gone on to sell over 10 million copies in the United States alone (Stuessy, Joe). It reached number 1 in 1991 and was the first album to bring Seattle grunge to the mainstream audience (Stuessy, Joe). Nevermind is a mix of slow, dark songs and fast paced grunge rock songs. With its grinding guitars, pounding drums, and lead singer, Kurt Cobain's distinctive voice, Nevermind found a distinctive way to fuse alternative punk with 70's rock (Nirvana, Nevermind). The biggest influential song on Nirvana’s Nevermind album was the first song, â€Å"Smells Like Teen Spirit.† It reached number 6 on the Top 40 Charts. This song was groundbreaking for Nirvana and the alternative music scene as a whole. After the release of â€Å"Smells Like Teen Spirit,† white, middle-class youth of the United States finally had a style of music to call their own and express their â€Å"teenage anthems† (Stuessy, Joe). This was the first song to emerge from alternative rock and to be known in the mainstream of rock and roll, expressing their generation’s expectations, â€Å"...here we are now, entertain us†(Stuessy, Joe). â€Å"Smells like Teen Spirit† was Curt Cobain’s â€Å"attempt to write the ultimate pop song†(Nevermind, Nirvana). He used the soft-loud dynamics of his favorite band, the Pixies. The insidious hooks also showed his admiration for the Beatle’s John Lennon(Nevermind, Nirvana). Th e style used in this song is simple, plain, loud, and straight-forward. Musically, there is nothing very â€Å"innovative† or difficult. However, the reason it is important to rock history is because it brought America’s attention to the once before underground style of grunge. â€Å"A driving drum beat, powered by Novelsek’s rhythmic bass, and a memorable guitar riff and solo, mix perfectly with Kurt Cobain’s depressing yet humorous lyrics† (Kastner, Patrick). While it has certainly been overplayed in the past years, it is still an essential part of Rock history. â€Å"Come As You Are† and â€Å"Polly† showcase that Nirvana were not only a band interested in seeing people jump up and down and scream at shows. Many people, fans and celebrities alike consider â€Å"Polly† to be Kurt Cobain’s most well written song. â€Å"Polly†, number six, is a story of a girl who got molested and tortured and sexually abused.

Artificial Intelligence in Gibsons Idoru and Oshiis Ghost in the Shel

Artificial Intelligence in Gibson's Idoru and Oshii's Ghost in the Shell      Ã‚   Introduction If people knew what scientists are up to, they would not be sleeping as calmly as they do today. If only they knew, they would read more carefully what the cyberpunk authors have to say.    The purpose of this work is not only to compare the pictures of Artificial Intelligence (hereafter referred to simply as AI) included in two major works of cyberpunk genre, but also to show the connection between those images and the reality we all live in or its nearest future.    So what is the future of AI depicted in cyberpunk works like? And if, as Sterling suggests, science-fiction writers pass on a cautionary message to the contemporary society in a satirical disguise, are these pictures really parallel to our reality? And if they are, should we be afraid?    The subject matter is Artificial Intelligence. The environments that house the AIs described hereafter are the environments of cyberpunk literature. To understand the findings and conclusions of this work, it is necessary to know the meaning of both these notions.    Defining Basic Notions: Introduction to cyberpunk    Cyberpunk has been present on the literary scene for almost twenty years now, being the most trendy and mainstream sub-genre of science-fiction and, although announced dead by some critics, has not been replaced by any other science-fiction movement so far. But how should we define what cyberpunk is and distinguish it from what is merely cyberpunkish? Appignanesi points out that the major feature of the cyberpunk world is a "total intrusion of technology into human lives" (129) and this may be used as a sufficient... ...iography Works cited Primary: 1. Gibson, William. Idoru. London: Penguin Books. 1997. 2. Ghost in the Shell. Dir. Mamoru Oshii. Masamune Shirow/Kodansha/Bandai Visual/Manga Entertainment. 1995. Secondary: 1. Appignanesi, Richard. Postmodernism for Beginners. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd. 1995. 2. Buller, Andrzej. Sztuczny mà ³zg. To ju nie fantazje (Artificial Brain. Not a Fantasy Any More). Translation mine. Warszawa: Prà ³szy ski i S-ka. 1998. 3. Marciszewski Witold. Sztuczna inteligencja (Artificial Intelligence). Translation mine. Krakà ³w: SIW Znak. 1998. 4. Cyran Janusz, ed. "Requiem dla ludzko ci?" ("Requiem for Humanity?"). Translation mine. Nowa Fantastyka Oct. 1999: 74 76. 5. Anonymous collective work. The Cyberpunk Project. Authors' Definition. http://www.cyberpunkproject.org/idb/authors_definition.html. 1999.

Why do the students cheat on the exams?

Keywords: study, student, deadline, Exam In the university context Just like any other society, we have crime and dishonesty and amongst all , students' cheating is just one of the appearances of these . Firstly I'd like to specify a clear definition And remind of what exactly is exam and why is it an inseparable part of the education Cause I believe that we should have a clear image of what we are doing and why are we doing it in order to be a professional .In education an examination is a test provided to see if the person who wants to take a degree or special certificate is capable of being taken that certificate or not. † adopting this definition we conclude that taking an exam is a requirement of receiving a degree. So this can be first motto for this essay â€Å"no exam,no degree ; no degree,no exam. † Students have different motives for study , they study In their specific majors as engineers-to be , translators-to be , accountants-to be , etc . They have to learn essential materials to be a standard engineer , translator , accountant , etc . W we successful expert and the other case in which the student is Just trying to get the degree and is not into learning the major and getting a good expert , however shocking , but this case is very frequent in Iran universities . And I think it is caused by disagreement of education and Jobs taken by graduates . By dropping the second group out of analyze circle ,we have the students who really want to learn things they have to learn during education period , and the intention of the writer is to inspect these students' cheating and express why they tend to cheat in this step . Titer believes that in standard context they will study well with no dishonesty and therefore will get the degree with no cheating. But life is never perfect and problems like emotional problems and financial affect students' life and these problems in the life tend to ruin the plan of study. And makes the student to miss the d eadlines , most of the students in order to not miss the deadlines decide to use their last weapon And cheat . Because in this situation if they don't cheat they'll ruin the whole schedule of their education.They cheat and they pass the exam with n acceptable mark, and seemingly everything is okay. But in the next semesters the hidden wound in the body of education, shows up. With no time to cure it. And this is where a dishonest solution, makes the problem deeper. But encountering deadlines is not always the same in every student. There are some foresighted students who by missing the deadline seemingly ruin the plan but in fact they strengthen it by keeping it pure . Shampoo says – ‘l AS May your nightmares become more agitated – . You contemplate the interpretation – GAS b so that when you get up

The Great Gatsby Review

The Great Gatsby â€Å"Emerson said it well: ‘Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself† (Peterson). The world is filled with cheapskates, phonies, and two-faced people. Many use others for their own benefits. Objects cannot define a relationship; it should be the feelings developed that defines the relationship of two people. The characteristic of materialism is a barrier for true love between two people. This relates to Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby.Nick Carraway has just moved to a West Egg, and his mysterious neighbor is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s long living dream is to rekindle his love and relationship with Daisy Buchanan, who is currently married to Tom Buchanan. He attempts to pursue his relationship with Daisy through his unexplained wealth. However, their love couldn’t be true because of their focus on â€Å"things† rather than each other. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgeral d shows that materialism can ruin the chance at true love. Gatsby tries to make Daisy love him through his money and excessive spending on nonessential things.When him and Daisy first reconnect their relationship, he brings her over to his house to show off the clothes in his closet: â€Å"He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray. While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher — shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange, and monograms of Indian blue.Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily† (Fitzgerald 92). Gatsby is throwing his shirts everywhere to show that he is full of money and that they don’t mean much to him, acting like it doesn’t matter if the y get ruined. He does this to show that his money is plentiful and he tries to make Daisy want to be with him and his rich lifestyle. Daisy starts to cry because she is overwhelmed with his prosperity and shows how she starts to love him through his riches.Another way Gatsby tries to show off his wealth is by throwing a party and inviting Daisy and Tom, but at the end of the party she seemed apathetic. Gatsby noticed her weariness and was concerned, so he confided in Nick: â€Å"‘She didn’t like it,’ he insisted. ‘She didn’t have a good time. ’ He was silent, and I guessed at his unutterable depression. ‘I feel far away from her,’ he said. ‘It’s hard to make her understand’† (Fitzgerald 109). Gatsby implies that he threw the party so that she would enjoy herself and want to come back to him.He tries to make his life seem very extravagant because he knows that it is what she looks for in a lover. Gatsby b ecomes unhappy because she was unhappy with his party; he feels that he must show off his money just to get Daisy to fall for him. Gatsby’s secret is revealed finally during a trip to the city: he and Tom get into an argument and Tom discloses the truth. Gatsby’s secret business of drug deals was the basis of his affluence.Daisy is shocked and doesn’t know what to do as Gatsby tries to deny the facts: â€Å"It passed, and he began to talk excitedly to Daisy, denying everything, defending his name against accusations that had not been made. But with every word she was drawing further and further into herself, so he gave that up, and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily, undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the room† (Fitzgerald 134). Daisy becomes reluctant to the fact that it was a fake fortune while Gatsby tries to cover up his lies.Although Daisy acted lik e she was in love with Gatsby before the incident, her feelings quickly faded as she realizes the truth. The money was the basis of their relationship and it was what held them together. This proves how their relationship was based off of money and how Daisy immediately forgot about how â€Å"in love† they were. This motif of materialism is explored because it shows how love can’t be genuine if it is based off of inanimate objects and money-oriented things. Myrtle is materialistic when she goes for the men with money and pretends to be in love with them.In New York City with Tom and Nick, Myrtle explains to her friends how she felt about her new marriage with George and her realizations: â€Å"I married him because I thought he was a gentleman†¦I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe† (Fitzgerald 34). Myrtle married him because she thought he came from a wealthy family, breeded, or born, into money. When she foun d out he wasn’t rich, she knew she had made a mistake in marrying him. Myrtle is materialistic because she didn’t marry George for love, but for wealth.Myrtle tells about the day she found out he wasn’t rich and admits to her regrets in marrying him. Myrtle was not expecting it: â€Å"The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never even told me about it, and the man came after it one day when he was out† (Fitzgerald 35). Myrtle finds out that George had borrowed someone’s suit to use during their wedding because he couldn’t afford one on his own. This shows the love that George has for Myrtle and how he goes far to make sure she gets the best wedding ever.It also shows how Myrtle doesn’t love him, and how was judging him for borrowing a suit. Myrtle is materialistic because she got upset over a suit being borrowed and not purchased fo r their wedding. Myrtle and Tom’s relationship is materialistic. While in NYC, Myrtle gets Tom to buy her a dog off the streets: â€Å"I want to get one of those dogs†¦I want to get one for the apartment. They’re nice to have—a dog† (Fitzgerald 27). Myrtle asks for a dog and gets one because of Tom’s wealth and uses it to her advantage. Myrtle takes Tom’s money for granted and pursues a relationship with him because she knows he is rich.Her materialism is shown through her fake relationships with Tom and George; it reveals that she only has relationships with wealthy men and she was not really â€Å"in love† with either of the two men. Her materialistic needs clashed with her path to finding love. This motif of love is explored because it shows how people in this world use others for their money. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows that a materialistic mindset will corrupt the chance at true love. Gatsby tried to get Daisy to l ove him again by showing off his money and failed because he didn’t put his heart and self into their relationship.Myrtle mistakenly married a man whom she thought was wealthy and turned out he was poor. She quickly regretted their marriage and had an affair with Tom Buchanan, a well known rich man. Fitzgerald demonstrates how none of these relationships worked out because of the materialistic ways of these characters. This motif is explored because it proves how true love isn’t real with fake values. True love should be two people who love each other unconditionally and is not based on money-oriented things.