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More Than 1 In 4 American Users Have Deleted Facebook, Pew Survey Finds (washingtonpost.com)
Gayle BAS writes: Nearly three-quarters of American Facebook users have changed how they use the social media app in the past year, following a barrage of scandals involving the abuse of personal data, foreign interference in U.S. elections and the spread of hateful or harassing content on the platform, Pew Research has found. According to the survey, over half of Facebook users ages 18 and older (54%) say they have adjusted their privacy settings in the past 12 months. Around four-in-ten (42%) say they have taken a break from checking the platform for a period of several weeks or more, while around a quarter (26%) say they have deleted the Facebook app from their cellphone. All told, some 74% of Facebook users say they have taken at least one of these three actions in the past year. The survey findings include: There are, however, age differences in the share of Facebook users who have recently taken some of these actions. Most notably, 44% of younger users (those ages 18 to 29) say they have deleted the Facebook app from their phone in the past year, nearly four times the share of users ages 65 and older (12%) who have done so. Similarly, older users are much less likely to say they have adjusted their Facebook privacy settings in the past 12 months: Only a third of Facebook users 65 and older have done this, compared with 64% of younger users. In earlier research, Pew Research Center has found that a larger share of younger than older adults use Facebook. Still, similar shares of older and younger users have taken a break from Facebook for a period of several weeks or more.
Don't think so. Personally, I think it's kids moving away from a medium where parents roam. You can't quite really be yourself when your parents are around, and you can't really not "friend" your parents without causing trouble, so our youth is moving to a different platform.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I came off Facebook about a year ago because it was a time sink. I got nothing out of it, just the habit of checking the news feed and scrolling scrolling scrolling. Within a few hours I didn't miss it.
I came of Twitter a couple of months ago due to it just being a really nasty place. Within a few hours I didn't miss it.
My life is better without social media.
My wife quit after a few things. She made a reasonable comment in a political discussion thread and someone reported it as offensive, and the conversation ended up being removed. Then one of her coworkers got falsely accused of being a drug dealer on one of those "busybody" gossip pages that have cropped up recently -- Facebook should ban those. That would be bad enough, but somebody apparently informed her boss's boss, and it came back down to my wife as the coworker's supervisor, so it has even seeped into the office politics.
I kept my account because I have a few apps that are tied into Facebook--it's the only way to use them. However, I haven't posted in several weeks, and only check in on occasion to see friend & family photos and such. Now FB keeps sending me email that says "Did you see what X said about Y's post!?", as if Facebook is gossiping itself. If it weren't for the apps, I'd probably delete it too.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
People adjusting their privacy settings are in denial, not only we have multiple accounts (i.e. Google and location data) where these are disregarded, we also have multiple hacking stories (i.e. Ashley Madison breach) that show that data is always retained even when consumers are told it is not.
These companies are not going to voluntarily stop collecting data on you no matter what settings you use.
It's still a good sign. The ex can't just pop in and peek on you as you take a shower now. Instead they have to rely on the hidden cameras they left in your house and collect the pictures next time they visit...
But you control when the ex can visit now, so maybe, eventually, you'll get tired of opening the door to them over time... and stop letting them in.
I'm optimistic this is a positive sign. Give it a decade and Facebook could be the next MySpace.,
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
During the last election, I made a comment from my conservative perspective. My mostly liberal Seattle friends started piling on. So I go to look at my conservative friend to see if he had anything to say. He had the same situation, being piled on by his liberal friends in Minneapolis. He and I are very close friends in real life.
That Facebook had isolated us, two people who most certainly should be linked up in each other's feeds, from each other told me everything I needed to know. Facebook was steering the conversation. It was only later that all the controversies broke in the news.
Congratulations, big tech. You've alienated your users who don't agree with your narrative.