Facebook sets sights on mobile users

CANNES: Mark Zuckerberg looks almost as popular as Facebook, going by the rush of audience for a question and answer session with the founder and CEO of the online social network at the Debussy that forced the organisers to open other auditoriums to show him live on screen.

And he didn’t disappoint and dealt with all the questions thrown at him. “Internet makes the communication two-way discussions, with marketers and even with the government. However, the trend I see is that the Net is becoming more personal. So, Facebook has to create products that are personalised,” said Zuckerberg.

The quest to create personalised products for Facebook users triggers the question of privacy. Zuckerberg admitted that as Facebook started rolling out new features, there were too many controls. “People had a legitimate question on us having too many controls. But people now want control over what they want to share,” he said.

The trend of brands releasing their communication on Facebook for millions to see and engage is what Zuckerberg thinks is the way in the future. But when it comes to Facebook making money, he said the key is servicing the partners — users, advertisers and developers — over a long time frame.

Even as Facebook is a rage in certain parts of the world, India with a low 40 million internet penetration and a high mobile telephony usage is a challenge for Facebook. The solution, Zuckerberg said, is to build a uniform platform that runs horizontally – be it web, Facebook, mobile applications. “So it can be fitted into markets like India,” he said.