If you’re like almost two billion other people on this planet, you’ve been a user of Facebook. And, chances are fairly good, your profile was one of the 50 million harvested by Cambridge Analytica. For many of us, we may alternate between disbelief and resignation. Some people have resorted to deactivating their accounts, or deleting them entirely (mostly acts of closing the barn door after the horse has already run). Others have lessened their use of the platform, while locking down their privacy even tighter.
The fallout for Facebook has been significant. Mark Zuckerburg has been asked to appear to testify before Congress. The Federal Trade Commission is opening a non-public investigation. Even advertisers are in an uproar. The repercussions of this issue are going to be far-reaching, and it may be a long while before the dust truly settles. So…what happens now?
- Facebook Keeps Saying It’s Too Big. Maybe It’s Time to Listen [Inc.] “‘I personally think a single entity that governs [2 billion users’] media diet and communication channels is scary, firstly due to its size. We expect just a bunch of people mostly living in a suburb in Northern California [to] safeguard U.S. elections in 2018, not cause ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, not help Duterte kill off people he doesn’t like in Philippines, not kill off media companies by mistake in Serbia, and a few more.'”
- Facebook’s data privacy fallout could give a boost to the online ledger underlying bitcoin: Analyst [CNBC] “While blockchain, the online ledger technology underlying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, would allow users to keep tabs on their data and how it is being shared, it would not allow users to prevent misuse in the first place, Steves said. ‘Blockchain would solve the transparency issue, but it would not solve the control issue you have.'”
- The world still needs news. It’s time Facebook realised this [The Guardian] “Unless the tech giants start to take notice, there is a real danger that next time there might be no “old media” left to call them out. Don’t get me wrong. We all want to cooperate with Facebook in forging a new media world, and still have a chance to get this right. “
- Is leaving Facebook the only way to protect your data? [BBC News] “But Dr Bernal acknowledges that it is unlikely many will quit – especially those who see Facebook as ‘part of the infrastructure of their lives’.”
From the Ohio Web Library:
- ‘Facebook Has a Lot of Work to Do.’ Mark Zuckerberg’s Personal Challenge for 2018 Is Fixing His Website (Gajanan, M. (2018). ‘Facebook Has a Lot of Work to Do.’ Mark Zuckerberg’s Personal Challenge for 2018 Is Fixing His Website. Fortune.Com, 1.)
- Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica Controversy Could Be Big Trouble for the Social Network. Here’s What to Know (Langone, A. (2018). Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica Controversy Could Be Big Trouble for the Social Network. Here’s What to Know. Time.Com, 10.)
- Mark Zuckerberg Just Revealed 3 Steps Facebook Is Taking to Address the Cambridge Analytica Crisis (Segarra, L. M. (2018). Mark Zuckerberg Just Revealed 3 Steps Facebook Is Taking to Address the Cambridge Analytica Crisis. Time.Com, 1.)
