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Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

'Quit Facebook Day' A Flop?

Christopher Agutos |
May 31, 2010 | 5:01 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

Thousands of Facebook users quit Facebook Monday because of concerns
with Facebook's privacy settings. (Creative Commons)

While many of us might have observed May 31 as a day to remember U.S. soldiers, more than 31,000 social media users attempted to bring about the death of Facebook.

But was it a flop? Some might say yes.

In recent weeks, the national campaign to delete your Facebook account, led by Web site QuitFacebookDay.com, attracted huge media attention. Aside from coverage from major news outlets, like CNN and The Washington Post, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg even responded to loud grumbles in a public interview last week. Campaign supporters blasted Facebook for its shady policies on privacy settings and looseness in handling sensitive user information to third-party companies.
 
So the day has come, but the actual effects are still questionable. Can a small group of 30,000 really do damage to Facebook's gigantic database of more than 400 million users, forcing its permanent demise?

Sorry Twitter, the answer is no.

Even though Facebook's numbers haven't been stunted, a few vocal dissenters have opened up a new discussion about Internet privacy, which could bring an even better reward.

In our day-to-day consumption, rarely before have social media users really questioned the potential corporate slippery slope when it comes to privacy invasion. Even more rarely do we ever question the profile information and personal photos we carelessly leave open to the online public. The recent buzz has caused many of us to think twice about what we do with social media, specifically how we use Facebook.

Now with the conversation open, Zuckerberg has taken notice. His quick response to the threat of losing thousands of users shows that a future relationship with the public is promising. The fight by QuitFacebookToday.com, though not all lost, has more so helped us to realize our own power. When up against the man: Make a lot of noise, and you'll get him to listen.

So this time, everyone wins.



 

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