How Facebook’s users have reacted to recent privacy scandals

Facebook’s recent privacy scandals that include issues with data protection, unsafe content, fake news, alleged Russian foul play, and their headlining involvement with Cambridge Analytica have led to shaken trust in the company, but not necessarily less engagement, according to a recent report by eMarketer. A mere 24 percent of Facebook users involved in the study felt that their privacy would be protected in the future and the levels were lowest among Facebook’s lowest growth demographic – young people.

Despite the growing concern, other data suggests business-as-usual for the social media giant as United States users grew from 239 million in December 2017 to 241 million on March 31, mirroring previous growth during the last several years, according to Reuters. Additionally, the percent of all adults that report using the service at least once a day only fell to 64 percent from 68 percent. So far, the most egregious use of private data uncovered revolves around political ads and the fact that users have not dealt with personally damaging attacks has likely mitigated some of the outrage.

With Facebook and privacy so heavy on the public’s mind, it is no surprise that those still using the platform are becoming more informed about what data the company is collecting about them (74 percent) and how to change the settings that affect them (78 percent). This significant majority compares strongly to another service, Twitter, that show only 55 and 58 percent, respectively, for the same metrics.

While these users may feel confident about their awareness level, only 23 percent thought that they had ‘total control’ over how Facebook uses their data.