Question

Why have Facebook and Twitter been erecting walls that block users from integrating these services? What is the free rider problem? Give real examples of this phenomenon in social networks and digital media.

Answer 1

Solution -

The social media and digital platforms today have a huge impact on the lives of the people and the society. There have been instances when social and digital media has been used to create certain disruptions and negative impacts on the society. Facebook and Twitter are the major social media platforms and an integration between the two can allow mass camouflaged posting on each platform which would not be authentic and can be utilized for raising large scale propoganda. The construction of walls are basically security features which are placed to avoid such situations of mass postings through each account. This also ensures that hackers are not able to get access to all the social media accounts of a user through this integration feature.

The problem of free riding is to be using the social media platform advantages without contributing anything on the platform. For instance there are users on twitter who will hardly post a tweet or even read tweets but leverage the network effects by posting a small link of a particular business or webpage to increase their market visibility. This behaviour is the free-riding behavior. They are able to setup propoganda through other users on the social media platform and do not engage themselves as authentic contributors.