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#DeleteFacebook trends in response to Cambridge Analytica
We all moved on from MySpace. We can move on from Facebook too." This was a typical message found on Twitter in the wake of accusations over Cambridge Analytica using personal data from 50 million Facebook users to influence the US presidential election in 2016. After reports of Cambridge Analytica using Facebook's user information came to light, people began to urge others to either #DeleteFacebook or #BoycottFacebook in response.
[...] A spokeswoman for Privacy International warned that privacy concerns extend beyond Facebook as "your data is being exploited all the time". A person on the technology subsection of Reddit agreed, saying removing Facebook "doesn't solve the long term problem [because] consent to data use is very weakly protected online right now". And one Twitter user seeking regulation of Facebook said having the ability to delete an account is "a privilege".
This is a campaign we can all get behind, regardless of your position on election interference and influences.
Previously: The Cambridge Analytica Files
(Score: 4, Insightful) by TheRaven on Wednesday March 21 2018, @10:21AM
That cuts both ways. People are on Facebook because everyone else is on Facebook. For everyone who leaves Facebook, the marginal utility of Facebook drops for everyone in their network. You quit and it didn't make much difference because you were the only one, but if a quarter of your friends quit then suddenly Facebook isn't a way of reaching almost everyone and so you need to use something else. If it's then not convenient then you may as well quit, which pushes other people away. Communication networks can die very quickly when you reach an inflection point where everyone that leaves triggers at least one other person to quit.
There's also the secondary, but perhaps more important, financial issue. If Facebook is perceived negatively then advertising on Facebook looks risky, so companies are likely to pull their ads from there and stop using it as a mechanism for interacting with customers. If that happens, then there's going to be a lot of pressure on Facebook from investors to monetise and anything that they try in that regard is likely to cause users to leave.
sudo mod me up