"Change is the only Constant!"
Facebook, the first social networking site that we have experienced on a mass scale. A technology that has got the world together, made us more social and much more than that it was a huge way for people to market their product to the right audience with their specific preferences.
As Marketeers, we have always loved how detailed Marketing we can do. But the recent events have given a lot of eye opening insights that can really change the course of the way that we look at Facebook.
#DeleteFacebook , a Hashtag that you must have seen a lot or even must have used and got off from Facebook. For those who don't know about the fact, let me take a moment and explain:
Facebook never paid attention to the 3rd Party Apps that are connecting and gathering your information from your Facebook Page. Once the data goes to the 3rd Party Applicants, Facebook has no idea what was being done of that data.
But the data breach is not just because of Facebook. The real blame lies on an App Developer and a Researcher Aleksandr Kogan. He acquired the data from his Quiz App and co-incidentally his other company was also managing the Digital Campaigns for Donald Trump. The allegations as of now are about the "Electoral Brainwash" where it is believed that many people have been profiles have been compromised and have inclination towards the winning of Donald Trump.
If the Allegations will be found true, the following things may happen:
Aleksandr Kogan has been dismissed from his company as of now.
Elon Musk has deleted Facebook Pages of Tesla and SpaceX running the dispute between him and Mark since a long time.
Mark Zuckerberg has publicly apologised for the mishap.
#DeleteFacebook campaign has started because of which there has been many who have deleted their Facebook Accounts and have deleted Pages of their companies.
Somethings that you might not know! We have all heard of how these Giants like Facebook, Google, Amazon etc. gives you free platform but the real losers are not them but us. We are the products that they are selling for money and we have not really bothered much till now though many of us knew but getting our data misused is something that we cannot compromise on!
Facebook has your data from day one:
Where you Logged In, time you have spent on the platform, where have you clicked, what Apps you like, details about your family etc.
They even know where you have logged in from and since they know that, they can keep a track of all your movement around the globe thereby giving a very specific ads on your liking.
When you are writing a post and you think that there has to be something else that you meant and you clear that text, they even have that information of what you have erased even though you have not posted it anywhere.
This is not just the beginning of our understanding of the kind of usage that our data has already undergone.
How can I check if my data is compromised or not?
There is no real way of checking if your data is actually compromised or not but for this scam, Mark has committed that the people will know if their data is compromised or not. This does not give me any confidence to use the platform any which ways more.
I will shift to Instagram or Linkedin!
Instagram is owned by Facebook and Linkedin, Twitter and all other social platforms have been designed on these basis so your data is not secure any where. For one thing, your data might have got compromised a lot of times without even Facebook knowing about it.
So how do I avoid?
The only way to avoid is to not upload your every activity that you do on your social profiles no matter its a Snapchat and erases your data but they all collect data at the end of the day as that is their business model. Its not those platforms to blame but our greed to get everything for free has caused this issue.
Future Post Facebook?
Maybe its really hard for now to fathom the fact that there might not be any Facebook in the near future but that can surely come to reality as Change is the only Constant and we will get habituated for something new.
What about Digital Marketing?
There might be lot of controversial topics discussed by the heads of Digital Marketing Gurus across the world but the fact is that Change is Coming and its not something that we are going to hate.
Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurs have always been there and will be there to solve the issues that lie in the real world. There is much more than the Digital World that we have got ourselves succumbed in.
I may leave you today with lot of questions but even I do not have the answer of all. Maybe we just have to hold tight through this roller coster ride of change or let the waters calm down. The decision still is in your hands!