Facebook has come under fire by the media, stock marketers, users and privacy activists, as they all urge lawmakers to act following the Cambridge Analytica controversy that proved data from 50 million users was harvested by Donald Trump’s political campaign in 2016. Needless to say, this has cost the social media giant big on the stock market due to user trust issues.
Nevertheless, this is just one of the newest political controversies the social media platform has been involved with. In 2016, Facebook was heavily criticized for enabling fake news sites to publish fake information about election polls, which is now linked to the possible manipulation of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by the influential firm.
Facebook’s tactics don’t work to keep data abuse at bay
Facebook has recently been under lots of pressure due to the constant heavy flow of click bait, ads, and fake news, to which the company has had several responses but none that are actually effective or particularly solid.
Meanwhile, many see Facebook as a platform that provides personal information to dangerous people or corporations. Many suggest this is exactly how the Trump campaign and other hazy political endeavors have been carried out.
Brian Weiser, advertising, and internet analyst stated Facebook isn’t toxic yet, “but you do end up with consequences. You create a condition with advertisers or regulators where you don’t get the benefit of the doubt. Should you believe them when they make a claim?”
Facebook, on the other hand, did have a claim to make, with Steve Carbone, chief digital and investment officer, saying that these criticisms are key for the company to understand important aspects to keep monitoring so they can improve both users’ trust and experience and associate brands to not be affected by the social media platform.
#DeleteFacebook is trending across social media
Facebook stock fell harshly down to 6.8 percent, representing a loss of more than $30 million in value, mainly due to the growing lack of trust by former and current Facebook users. The social media giant has been on the receiving end of strong critics, as well as verbal and written attacks throughout the week with the growing trend of the hashtag #deletefacebook.
#Deletefacebook has been one of the user-directed repercussions that followed the Cambridge Analytica exposé.
Facebook owes its success to mass marketing. In fact, it is the main reason for the company’s expansion from a dorm startup to social media powerhouse. As a response to calm user outrage, Paul Grewal, deputy general at Facebook, guaranteed that the harvested data has been permanently deleted.
Source: The New York Times