Users Abandon Facebook After Cambridge Analytica Findings

there's only one reason it doesn't exist... go build it.

The question is - will this be just a minor blip to Facebook and then normal services will resume after the indignation wears off? Or will it the beginning of the end of the social media dominance of the platform?

For me personally, I use FB primarily to keep in touch with friends, family and old colleagues who are spread all over the world. It is purely a contact tool, and not really used to market products of services etc., so my attachment is purely an emotional one.

However, I must admit that this latest episode has really hammered my trust in the platform FAR more than any other previous ones (and there have been many). Yesterday, for the first time ever, I went through my FB settings and removed a lot of personal information as well as stagnant apps that I had approved YEARS ago from my permitted apps list.

I am also seriously reconsidering what I do post on there from now on, as well as drastically reducing the number of times I post. I've also turned off location tracking for the FB app on my phone, and am considering deleting it altogether and just sticking to the web platform.

Will I change my mind in a months time? It's unlikely, but who knows? I like being able to talk to family that are literally on the other side of the world, and it is too hard for me to get them all to adopt Telegram or any other communication tool outside of FB Messenger, so I may find myself drawn back in.

I asked a friend if they would pay $1/mo for a facebook alternative, and they said no -- they would just start using instagram. When I explained facebook owned instagram, they still didn't think $1/mo would be worth it, citing:

"It's just another thing I have to pay per month: Netflix, Spotify, etc."

People have mental budgets, and maybe their psychological good will in balancing those budgets get drained over time for things like recurring payments that aren't on a bigger scale ($100+) and aren't 100% necessary like internet.

Twitter resurgence? Is there one? I am basically turned off Twitter far more than I am Facebook at the moment. The signal to noise ratio there has tilted FAR into the red zone of late. The proliferation of bots, and the ability for anyone with a pulse and a stupid meme graphic to plaster them into any conversation has just killed the conversational or learning capacity of that platform for me.

Building it isn’t the hard part.