Recently, I was browsing throug
h classmates’ blogs and I happened upon Jayden Shyu’s post, “Not Cool, Facebook“. Needless to say, I read it. I have already had many doubts about Facebook’s privacy. So much personal information is uploaded to Facebook. Users trust the company with their pictures, videos, interests, even money. Facebook has, in a way, become a monopoly of information. And how exactly do they turn this information into profit?
Poll done by the Guardian regarding Facebook
“Not Cool, Facebook” brings up a study done by Facebook in 2012 in which almost 700,000 users unknowingly participated. Facebook manipulated newsfeeds to see the effects of positive or negative posts on emotion. Jayden mentions how, while what Facebook did was legal, it was certainly not ethical. Facebook “technically” had the consent of the users, hidden in the terms of agreement as part of marketing research. However, it caused many of its customers to begin to distrust the company.
It’s amazing what a company can get away with when it is one of a kind. While there may be competitors out there such as Twitter and Snapchat, Facebook is still the easiest place to find information and friend someone one has just met. I, for one, have considered closing my Facebook account but have been unable to do so due to its necessity in much of my communication for both pleasure and business/school. Even with a large amount of distrust around it, Facebook somehow continues to thrive.