Despite the #DeleteFacebook movement and recent backlash against the social network, it appears that very little has actually changed for the company.
The sheer amount of criticism that was aimed at Facebook after the emergence of the Cambridge Analytica scandal suggested that the site was on the verge of taking a major hit.
Related: How to delete your Facebook account
However, that doesn’t appear to have happened. In fact, Facebook users are still yet to bother making use of the site’s privacy tools, to limit how much of their personal data is made available to the company and third parties, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
“We have not seen wild changes in behavior with people saying I’m not going to share any data with Facebook anymore,” Carolyn Everson, Facebook’s vice president of global marketing solutions, said.
She also hinted that only a small number of users had actually gone through with deleting their Facebook accounts, declaring that the company wasn’t anticipating a major slump in revenue.
Facebook might be putting on a front and things could, of course, change, but the update will come as a blow to many people who could be forgiven for thinking that #DeleteFacebook was the start of something meaningful.
Raj Samani, the chief scientist at cybersecurity firm McAfee, recently told Trusted Reviews that he believes the backlash was far less damaging for Facebook than many might have expected.
Related: #DeleteFacebook probably had a smaller impact than you hoped for
“It’s not possible for me to say how many people actually did delete their Facebook account, but [#DeleteFacebook] got 62,000 mentions at its peak,” he said. “That sounds like a lot, but actually it wasn’t a huge amount. If each account is worth $6, which is what the average revenue per user is, that’s a loss of $360,000. That’s not a lot.”
In the US, the average revenue per user is just under $27 per account, which would add up to less than $1.7 million.
“I don’t want people to turn around and say I want to switch off Facebook. It’s not a binary thing, it’s not about switching it on or off. It’s about beginning to question the types of information they have about you, beginning to question the transparency of the data that you share across all platforms, not just Facebook,” Samani added.
Do you know anyone who’s actually deleted their Facebook account? Share your thoughts @TrustedReviews.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
