The latest allegations against Facebook is not going well with users as #DeleteFacebook has been trending on Twitter. Many users are uncomfortable with the knowledge that Cambridge Analytica accessed personal data from 50 million Facebook users to influence the 2016 presidential election in the United States.
A lot of users have taken to Twitter to persuade other users to delete Facebook or boycott the social media with hashtags- #DeleteFacebook and #BoycottFacebook.
A trending tweet read:
“Finally deleted my @facebook account. If you’re angry about what Facebook has done with our data, then just #deletefacebook. We all moved from MySpace; we can move on from facebook too. Remember we aren’t the customers we are the product.”
Nevertheless, it’s ironical to backlash a social media platform with another that could be guilty of a similar offense. Without a doubt, every social media platform gathers data on users- Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and a host of many others. A Twitter user suggested that those clamouring for #DeleteFacebook should do likewise to Instagram since one person owns both apps. “If you delete one, you gotta delete the other,” he said.
“Privacy concerns extend beyond Facebook,” a spokeswoman from Privacy International warned. Almost all the time, your data is exploited as long as you are present on social media platforms and fill in personal information about yourself online. Therefore, deleting Facebook is not a long-term solution. Anyone who cares so much about data security should be willing to go extinct on social media. A suggestion read:
“If you are worried about companies using data to target you, then you need to delete your Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and Snapchat and stop buying things from Amazon and stop searching with Google and cancel all your credit cards and stop donating to charity and cancel mag.”
That was extreme, but it remains a fact. Every organisation with an online presence is guilty of the same offense.
Many people use the social media, especially Facebook for various reasons- to grow their business, to get the desired attention and some have become influencers. So it will be convenient to say that the presence of Facebook for some people is a privilege. The issue with amassing data can only be regulated. “For much of the world, Facebook is the internet and only way to connect to family/friend/business. That’s why its important to have a discussion re Facebook’s security/privacy issues,” a Twitter user seeking regulation says.
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