Can We Trust Facebook?

Upon reflection of Facebook’s latest privacy violation and $5 billion fine, one must wonder whether we can trust Facebook. After all, the social media platform hasn’t exactly been keeping our private information under lock and key. On the contrary, it appears as if our likes and dislikes, networks and preferences are for sale to the highest bidder. 

This episode of The Intuitive Customer explores the implications for Facebook of this latest privacy violation. It reveals a lot about the focus of the culture at Facebook, and it isn’t on protecting its user’s privacy. Since there are no barriers to exit for Facebook and users are the product they have to sell, how long before the lack of trust between users and Facebook affects their bottom line?

 

 

I am a Facebook user, although, I am not as active as I once was. While I do have a business account, I mostly used it to interact with friends and family. After the Cambridge Analytica scandal, however I found myself backing away from the newsfeed, so to speak. It is inconvenient in some ways, but worth it to me because I was uncomfortable with the amount of data Facebook was collecting and using.

Facebook has a series of scandals over the years, going all the way back to 2007. The social media platform has always had a fast and loose policy with sharing things their users did on the platform.

User Privacy concerns came to a head in 2011, when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused them of not upholding their privacy policy of sharing private information publicly. Facebook settled and agreed to an FTC review every other year for the next 20 to ensure it was keeping its promises to users. The latest violation shows that they aren’t keeping their promises.

Facebook’s entire value is predicated on its users’ private information. The platform itself is not creating value, the users information does. So, it’s no surprise that Facebook is always pushing the limits of what their customers can see and use for their business purposes.

However, if they continue to handle user’s private information with little regard for discretion, a time will come when users leave, taking all that value with them. Then, where will the social media platform be? 

Listen to the podcast in its entirety to learn more about Can We Trust Facebook? for your Customer Experience.

 

The Intuitive Customer podcasts are designed to explain the psychological concepts behind customer behavior.

If you would like to find out from one of our CX consultants how you can implement the concepts we discussed in your organization’s marketing to improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.

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