Examining switching power: Mark Zuckerberg as a novel networked media mogul

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This paper explores Mark Zuckerberg’s attempts at ‘network switching’ (Arsenault & Castells, 2008a. Switching power: Rupert Murdoch and the global business of media politics: A sociological analysis. International Sociology23(4), 488–513) in order to examine the nature of power in the network society in an age of social media dominance. Through a case study of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook we illustrate how novel networked media moguls gain and retain power through the interconnection of multiple networks and attempts to reprogram common goals and resources. We thus further test Arsenault and Castells’ (2008a. Switching power: Rupert Murdoch and the global business of media politics: A sociological analysis. International Sociology23(4), 488–513) hypothesis through an analysis of Zuckerberg, and Facebook’s, key operational strategies and their success in facilitating the interconnection of a multitude of networks. In disentangling the strategy, rhetoric and actions of Zuckerberg – notably in the Cambridge Analytica scandal and in his philanthropic efforts with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative – we analyze how ‘switching’ power manifests within the context of an inextricable relationship between SNSs and a range of other networks including political, financial, philanthropic and scientific. Moreover, an examination of the multitude of networks Zuckerberg operates within highlights both the opportunities and pitfalls associated with the decentralization and dissemination of power within the network society. Accordingly, this paper offers two updates to the original hypothesis posed by Arsenault & Castells; (1) network switches act as both points for leveraging power and as potential sites of weakness and (2) growing technological interconnection and the visibility of social media require successful network switchers to increasingly operate ‘mega-switches’ in order to successfully compete against other power seekers.

 

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