Facebook has had a bad ride this past 12 months and deservedly so.
Just like that ‘tiff’ you had when your partner danced much too long with ‘that person’. You exploded. You fumed. You stewed. You called the whole thing off. Then you thought “I do still have feelings for them, so let’s give this relationship another go”. But you told them, “I’m on the alert now so you better be true to your promise of behaving better otherwise we’re well and truly over!”
So is it time to give Facebook a second chance?
Only you know just how far they went when they danced away – it may have been a simple dalliance or they could have sold you down the river. If it’s the latter then the rest of this article isn’t for you. You’ve made your decision, we all respect it, we support you and wish you well with your new and future relationships.
Second Chancers – Read on
Why now? After they’ve behaved so badly do they really deserve a second chance? Well in recent weeks Facebook has made some announcements to let us know how they’ve changed, but the most important statement in all of this has been:
‘We’ve been too focused on the positives of our platform and not paid enough attention to the negatives.’
‘But we’re listening. We’re learning. And we’re taking action.’ Facebook is changing announcement, June 2018
If this truly is an admission of guilt, ownership and a rock-solid move to make things good again, then if you are feeling forgiving, Facebook might get another chance. If (and only if) they keep their promises, all could be well in the relationship again.
So what’s new?
Two major steps being taken by Facebook include:
1. Privacy (and we all know what happened here so this better be good!)
Facebook have introduced, and are introducing more controls over privacy on what you do and don’t share and are making privacy controls easier to find and use:
- Updating privacy settings and keeping you informed of changes so you can review and make your own choices
- Giving you more control over which apps can use your data and how they can use it
- Launched the ‘Data Abuse Bounty.’ which rewards people who report misuse of data
2. Controlling Fake News (this will upset a notable US leader…)
– Displaying background information on the articles and publishers appearing in your News Feed
– Working with fact-checkers globally, to better evaluate the credibility of articles you see on Facebook
– Reducing the visibility of posts that we know to be fake news
– Making it harder for peddlers of fake news to make money from their harmful activity
– Removing fake accounts faster by hiring more reviewers and developing new AI tools
You can read how Facebook are approaching control of fake news here
Will it make Facebook better?
We hope so. Following Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance at the Congressional Hearing on Facebook/Cambridge Analytica data breach you might think that nothing has or will change. Is this move by Facebook just an announcement to appease the media and the falling Facebook subscribers? Only time will see just how effective these Facebook moves on Privacy and Fake News are going to be, once they are implemented.
I hope it works for three reasons:
- Fake news is the scourge of everybody’s lives and is skewing information from conversational to board room level
- Privacy is of the utmost importance and if the internet is going to continue succeeding as the godfather of the internet, Tim Berners-Lee‘s vision: ‘An open platform that allows anyone to share information, access opportunities and collaborate across geographical boundaries’ – then Privacy is paramount to enable this sharing platform.
- I want to use Facebook for what it was set up for – socialising with my friends and family, without worrying about what’s being stolen and used from my profile.
So, to Second Chance or Not?
Whatever Facebook do, none of it is of any importance if users continue to fall away as the media reports suggest that they have been. So the choice is ours – second chance or not for Facebook?
Only one answer here… ‘Time will tell’ (cop out I know) but I think it’s swaying back towards Facebook in a more controlled and focused way with power to the people.
Facebook – time to fall back in love? – where to find out more about social media management
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