Antivirus company Sophos asked their readers this week whether the recent revelation that Facebook were conducting unauthorised “social experiments” on their users made them think about quitting the social media service.
We’ve certainly noticed that an increasing number of our own readers have contacted us letting them know they’re “unplugging” from their Facebook accounts (it’s okay, you can still keep up-to-date with us on Twitter 🙂 )
Whilst the readership of the Sophos Naked Security blog may not be a completely random sample given that the mere fact they’re reading the Sophos Naked Security website probably means they’re pretty clued up already in the world of technology, the results were still interesting.
According to Sophos, the following are the results of a poll when they asked their readers whether they have considering quitting –
32% Maybe. – I’ve tried to quit before. I can’t quit you Facebook!
26% No. – It’s a service I signed up for knowingly. And it’s Facebook’s right to use my personal information how they see fit.
26% Are you kidding? – I don’t use Facebook.
17% Yes. – I’ve had enough! I’m deleting my account and don’t plan to reactivate it.
The results didn’t favour Facebook, with a whopping 49% claiming they are either thinking about or will be deleting their Facebook accounts. A further 26% conceded they didn’t even use Facebook.
However it is likely the majority of the “maybe’s” will be dependent on whether a viable alternative to Facebook becomes apparent, but that may be some time off yet, with even Googles “Plus” social media platform failing to really take off.
And the latest revelation that Facebook will be tracking activity outside the realms of its own website is unlikely to quell privacy concerns.
So it’s good news and bad news for Facebook. Many of their users seem to want to leave, but realistically, where are they going to go? Social media is addictive, and with no serious competition, it seems Facebook’s hold as the number 1 social media website is probably not going to go anywhere fast.
What do you think? How long do you think Facebook will be leading the social media industry? And have you considered deleting your account? Or have you already?
Make sure your Facebook account is locked down securely as it can be. Read our guide here.
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