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Users Abandon Facebook After Cambridge Analytica Findings

nytimes.com

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Re: Users Abandon Facebook After Cambridge Analytica Findings

#151

Post by abakker »

osrec wrote: post #148
oh-kumudo wrote: post #138

CA scandal is just a final push. I kinda stopped using FB like half a year ago, for that I don't really know what I could get from this platform. Viral videos, nope. Sensationalized editorial with an angry face attached below, nope. Friends having party like no tomorrow, fine. But there are so many of them, and they are kinda repetitive. Since it is public and real name social network, I have to be extra careful shar…

That's how it starts. The clever folk quit first (they also start first) as they can clearly identify with their intrinsic dislike of the platform. The less clever take a little while longer to realise how much they're hating it too, often getting suckered by cheap tricks used by the platform to keep them hooked. They will figure it out soon enough though! I think I'll probably start shorting some Facebook stock in t…

You might have missed the short opportunity. Better go long on whatever you think might pick up the slack. I don’t think the void that Facebook leaves will be left unfilled.

Re: Users Abandon Facebook After Cambridge Analytica Findings

#152

Post by r00fus »

adjkant wrote: post #99

If you want to cripple Facebook but still get the advantages of using it as a contact book / for events and groups, just block the news feed. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicat... Yes, I know they make money other ways. But if no one uses the news feed, their ad revenue will take a noticeable hit. Most of the negatives come with the endless feed/scroll in the first place. I still spend time…

But you're forgetting the tracking pixel and cookies used in many many sites...

Plus then privacy loss is not just for you but the shadows you cast (shadow profiles for those who never logged in based on relationships and inferences from live users)

Re: Users Abandon Facebook After Cambridge Analytica Findings

#153

Post by gowld »

fwgwgwgch wrote: post #105
tuna-piano wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely correct. I've met people in Asia (Myanmar and Nepal) who have just accessed the internet for the first time in the past 12-24 months (through their Android smartphones). But they don't know the true internet - they only know the internet through the Facebook app. They use it like we use Google and web browsers. To them, Facebook is the internet. They don't have email accounts. They don't use the browser. T…

> buzz feed Since you are as surprised as I was a month back, I've looked further and concluded that buzz feed actually funds very high quality journalism (yes yes shocking I know) and presents facts from both sides. They do it using the money generated from click baits. I'd even make what will sound like a hyperbole , if you are the sort that wants truth on both sides of political spectrum and not just an echo chamb…

> both sides.

There are more than 2 sides to a story.

Re: Users Abandon Facebook After Cambridge Analytica Findings

#154

Post by confounded »

sumoboy wrote: post #131

If people knew the amount of info collected and sold they would abandon everything. Even 7 months before your born, someone has a profile on you. What CA did leveraging data for targeting is just the beginning, ML applied to data in the future will make what CA did look like amateur hour. Like others have said with elections, this all started long ago with social, CA just happened to do it better this time. Even with…

> ..CA just happened to do it better this time. Even without them, sophisticated targeting can still be developed regardless...

I think the thing to take away from all this is that people don’t like it.

Our societies have democratic principles; governments can (and have a duty to) prevent sophisticated targeting from non-consensual data collection and if it’s not what people want.

You can make an argument that it is what people really want because they’re too desperate, ignorant or subjugated to consider anything else, so the serfs must be farmed.

Let’s find out!

Re: Users Abandon Facebook After Cambridge Analytica Findings

#155

Post by gowld »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #26

What's interesting is that of the 5 people the article profiled, only 1 seems likely to have voted for Trump. Based on location and occupation, I would guess the others were not Trump voters. My impression of this whole scandal, is that where you are on the political spectrum affects how you see it. I think a lot of the anger at Facebook is not because of what they did, but what they people see as the consequence fro…

NY articles profile the author's friends and family.

Re: Users Abandon Facebook After Cambridge Analytica Findings

#156

Post by freyir »

bogomipz wrote: post #107
sydli wrote: post #64

A point that is brought up occasionally, but probably not enough: Deleting Facebook really isn't possible for a nontrivial percentage of the world population, since Facebook is the internet in some places. Their monopoly over internet infrastructure in some developing countries is such that people can't afford non-Facebook internet packages, and seems to disincentivize actual low-cost internet infrastructure from bei…

>"Their monopoly over internet infrastructure in some developing countries" In which developing countries does Facebook have a "monopoly" over internet infrastructure?

Facebook has been actively targeting developing countries that lack Internet infrastructure. They offer a walled garden consisting of Facebook and a few other sites for free. They initially called it Internet.org, but it’s since been renamed Free Basics.

I guess the concern is that people will confuse Facebook for the Internet, and they’ll think they’re getting the Internet for free. It then becomes very difficult for a real ISP offering full Internet access to enter the market.

Re: Users Abandon Facebook After Cambridge Analytica Findings

#157

Post by skeleton »

netsharc wrote: post #45
cyberferret wrote: post #13

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 servi…

A year or so ago I noticed I would wake up and the first thing I did was load up Facebook in my phone. I deleted the app, and what do I do? i still open it on my phone's browser. So I changed my password to 32 characters generated by Keepass, and make sure I logged out of it on my phone. I'm still logged in on the desktop, but nowadays it's pretty quiet anyway. Thr last few days I've been using a Chrome extension (1)…

I had a similar behaviour years ago. I deleted the app from my phone, but then after a short while logged in via my phone's browser. A short while after that I chose to 'delete' my account (after backing up the archive of course). Since it gives you 30 days to reconsider your decision, I thought if I really missed facebook that much I'd log in within the 30 days. It's been years since and I haven't had the slightest desire to be apart of facebook.

In recent times my attention has been drawn to the amount of time wasted on random Youtube videos. Youtube is more difficult since the service actually has value to me. Somehow restricting my access to only videos from my subscriptions could be a possible solution.

Re: Users Abandon Facebook After Cambridge Analytica Findings

#158

Post by afterburner »

kercker wrote: post #25

"The hashtag #DeleteFacebook appeared more than 10,000 times on Twitter within a two-hour period on Wednesday, according to the analytics service ExportTweet. On Tuesday, it was mentioned 40,398 times, according to the analytics service Digimind." Is this really such a big deal for Facebook? Suppose 50000 persons delete their Facebook everyday, then it will just lose 1,825,0000 users one year, not counting new users…

Check your number commas.

Re: Users Abandon Facebook After Cambridge Analytica Findings

#159

Post by ktta »

cm2187 wrote: post #83
d--b wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope I'm wrong but I think this in no way bringing facebook down. Keeping in touch with friends & family is too important to ditch entirely, and having everyone switch to a different platform is very hard. That said, my whole extended family uses whats app nowadays...

I'd argue a lot if not probably the majority of users of Facebook are read only. What matters is really whether the minority of users who actively post are leaving or not. These are the most affected by privacy concerns. Once enough of them do, the platform dries out and its end will accelerate.

>What matters is really whether the minority of users who actively post are leaving or not.

I see it differently. Looking at it from a stats perspective, people who just login and don't scroll are also pretty valuable for Facebook since they're still come under the DAU and MAU numbers. They're counted for the ad impressions, and subsequently ad revenue.

Even though Facebook has prioritized friends' posts, bulk of the content (even though it can be not the most important) I think for most people is by pages and companies. Who I don't think are going to change in any way after this event.

Re: Users Abandon Facebook After Cambridge Analytica Findings

#160

Post by patrickdavey »

Anyone on here is probably one of the tech influencers for their family group. I've just started the work of trying to get people to move onto using Signal. I really really like the ethos of the organisation. I don't see how there's any downside (other than the time of getting people to switch).

Wouldn't it be great if, as a start, everyone moved to a secure not-going-to-sell-your-data organisation for instant messaging.

Then, if Whisper Systems could just bring out some magic Facebook alternative, well, that would be just amazing.

We should care about this stuff, we should try to influence our friends and family.

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