Zuckerberg says Facebook taking next big step as global opportunities beckon

In an open letter to the Facebook Community posted on Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg said the organisation he founded in 2005 was inching closer to taking the next step, as the company’s opportunities assumes global proportion.

The company will be looking to focus on developing the social infrastructure for community that aims to support individuals, provide security and information for civic and social inclusion.

Global opportunities for Facebook, according to Zuckerberg now include, “spreading prosperity and freedom, promoting peace and understanding, lifting people out of poverty, and accelerating science. Our greatest challenges also need global responses, like ending terrorism, fighting climate change, and preventing pandemics. Progress now requires humanity coming together not just as cities or nations, but also as a global community.”

After posing a question “Are we building the world we want?” Zuckerberg said he believed company will contribute to shaping a better world by bringing humanity together “not just as cities or nations, but also as a global community.”

Teams at Facebook have been putting together new features including the Safety Check system that tells friends a user is alright after a disaster takes place. There have also been efforts to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) on the platform to assist users experiencing terrorism, climate change etc.

“This is a time when many of us around the world are reflecting on how we can have the most positive impact. I am reminded of my favourite saying about technology. “We always overestimate what we can do in two years, and we underestimate what we can do in ten years.” We may not have the power to create the world we want immediately, but we can all start working on the long term today. In times like these, most important thing we at Facebook can do is develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us,” Zuckerberg said.

He spelled out a five-part mission for the company. These include building communities that are supportive, safe, informed, civically engaged and inclusive.

Following the post, some experts have noted the political undertone in the message from Zuckerberg may be a sign that he is increasing political participation in the near future. The founder is known to have used his position and platform to speak out against anti-globalisation rhetoric sweeping through Britain, Europe and the US.

“Giving people a voice is a principle our community has been committed to since we began. As we look ahead to building the social infrastructure for a global community, we will work on building new tools that encourage thoughtful civic engagement. Empowering us to use our voices will only become more important,” Zuckerberg said.