“See everyone in the real world” Users start abandoning Facebook

If you haven’t been living under the rock, you must have heard about Facebook’s biggest controversy uncovered in the past few days. The ‘improper use’ of around 50 million Facebook users’ data by Cambridge Analytica during the 2016 US elections have shaken the world, especially those who treated previous reports about data privacy. Despite Facebook officially issuing an apology, users have woken from the slumber and are made to reconsider whether they should continue their social media journey with Facebook. Some have even started making the shift, bidding the social network goodbye for once and all.

Popular entities on the Internet have started the change, which is reflected in the trending #DeleteFacebook hashtag on Twitter. An NYTimes report states that the #DeleteFacebook hashtag was mentioned approximately 40,398 times on Twitter.

Ex-WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton had taken it to Twitter to express his intentions about quitting from Facebook. “It is time. #DeleteFacebook” — that’s what his tweet read.

However, it seems the common man has also had enough with Facebook. The same report by NYTimes states that several people are finally moving on from Facebook and on to rival social media services for good — one that values their data privacy over anything else. Richard H. Perry, a filmmaker from the US, told NYTimes that he “had suspected this stuff was going on, but this is the first time it’s been plainly exposed. It seems so malicious, and Facebook seems so complicit all the way up and down like it doesn’t care about its users.” Now, he’s ready to rely on Twitter and Instagram for all his social needs. “It’s not going to be the end of the world,” he added.

Another retired navy veteran feels that “Facebook is more obsolete than people would think. Dan Clark had two Facebook accounts, out of which one he used exclusively to stay in touch with his friends and the other one to keep a tab on his family members. “There are just so many ways nowadays to stay in contact: phones, email, instant message,” he added.

Alexandra Kleeman, a writer from Sweden, has also deleted her Facebook account. She states that she grew tired of fake news surrounding the 2016 US presidential elections and had been planning to move out of the old social media network. With the Cambridge Analytica scandal, she has finally got enough reasons to make the switch to some other platform. However, she says that Facebook’s messaging platform will be staying on her phone for the time being.

Ben Greenzweig, an entrepreneur from New York, has also deleted his Facebook account. “But I will definitely miss what the promise of Facebook used to be — a way to connect to the community in a very global and local context,” he said after being a very active Facebook user. His final Facebook post read — “See everyone in the real world.”

After going through all their accounts, if you feel that it’s time to call quits on Facebook, then think again. There’s no doubt that Facebook clearly failed to protect its users’ privacy and should work hard to keep away malicious intentions away from its platform. However, earlier in the year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that he will be working to make Facebook more meaningful this year, by making it a place to connect with people rather than a place to dump advertisements and articles. Mark Zuckerberg said earlier that Facebook had "made mistakes”, but “there's more to do, and we need to step up and do it." Surely, they will be finding out ways to limit third-parties from accessing user data in a deceptive manner and achieve their visions for a ‘meaningful Facebook’ this year. Therefore, it seems that things will be sorted out and Facebook will becomes safer, more secure over the coming months.

Till then, just hold on.

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