As Prime Times’ resident “young person," I’m an old hand at Facebook. But I’m seriously thinking of ditching the social media site, and you should, too. Let me explain.
I’m in my 30s and I first signed up for Facebook while in college. It started as a university or college networking application, before growing into the behemoth is became today.
Originally it was simple: you log-in, fill in basic profile information (name, email, location), and it allowed you to find Facebook “friends,” which were usually people within your school’s network.
Pretty quickly, it became one of those tools you had to have because everyone had it; Facebook became the default invitation tool for any sort of party or gathering (and remains so), an easy way to message a large group of people or join groups of like-minded individuals.
As Facebook expanded its user base, the demographics of its users changed too. What was once an application for teens and 20-somethings became an application for everyone.
All of a sudden I saw my aunts and uncles joining, not to mention my parents, which, to some degree, is a nerve-wracking experience for any young person. Do you dare become Facebook “friends” with the folks?.
If you’re on Facebook, you probably see some tangible benefit; a chance to reconnect with some old friends, stay in contact with people you know around the globe, or follow a special interest group or a club (for example, I’m a member of a tropical fish enthusiast group, not that I’m proud of that fact).
Before long, Facebook expanded into presenting news. Along with Google, it became an overwhelmingly influential aggregator of news, and thrust itself into the role of gatekeeper, much like the role copy editors and publishers play at so-called “mainstream media.”
Mark Zuckerberg, the creator and CEO of Facebook, stated in 2006 that he wanted to “create an environment where people could share whatever information they wanted” as well as “(helping) people understand what was going on in their world a little better.”
Twelve years later, Facebook has succeeded wildly at its first goal, and failed spectacularly at its second. And if you’re a bit confused about all the anger around Facebook lately, that’s where it all began.
Despite vast, seemingly endless resources (with revenue in excess of $40 billion last year), Facebook had shown no interest in playing that copy editor role. They allowed the highest, most tech-savvy bidder to share news – whether it was true, false, or intentionally misleading.
Making things worse, Facebook users generally trusted the news feed as “real” news (and to be fair, some of it was), but had a hard time identifying misleading or deceiving news sources.
Many blame this fake news for some of the seismic political events of 2017 – from Donald Trump to Brexit – but it’s hard to quantify how much was Facebook’s fault or responsibility. Facebook initially escaped with a public shaming, but much worse news was to come regarding a political consulting firm called Cambridge Analytica.
It’s difficult to summarize, but here’s my best try: through information that Facebook collects from its users, both knowingly and unknowingly – from your phone calls (even when you’re not on Facebook!), to your messages, contact information, interests, hobbies, and behaviour – Facebook has a 360-degree profile of each and every user.
The implications of not protecting this information are endless, and Facebook, knowingly, allowed consulting firms like Cambridge Analytica to download this information to create extremely specific, targeted ads and “news.” With this information, Cambridge could shape ads and news stories, targeting the specific users it wants to influence.
While this was happening, it’s become apparent Facebook knew what was going on, failed to protect its users’ information (or even try to protect it), while continuing to collect ad revenue from consulting firms like Cambridge that were illegally using their information.
Facebook may be free of charge, but it comes with a cost. Nothing we put on the site is truly secure, and more than ever, we must consider the “news” we see.
If you value your privacy and bristle at the thought of companies trying to covertly influence you, it may be time to delete your account – even if it means losing track of what the grandkids are doing, which might not be a bad thing.
- reprinted from Calgary Prime Time, a Great West newspaper. Written by Scott Tougas.
