Facebook's Privacy Pivot: What You Need To Know | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

Facebook's Privacy Pivot: What You Need To Know

As others are saying, we've been "Zucked." Again.

99
Facebook's Privacy Pivot: What You Need To Know

Technology is changing. People are changing. Times are changing.

It's no secret that Facebook is spiraling down after it was released that "private" messages sent on Facebook are actually used by data analyzers to collect information on users. It's also no secret that people were pretty darn pissed about it.

The gap between companies and their users is closing very quickly, so what used to be "secret" before, isn't so secret now. As a response to all of the backlash from Facebook users about the platform's lack of privacy, Mark Zuckerberg has proposed a new "privacy pivot." He hopes to transform Facebook's reputation of being a "town square" to a "living room": more and more people are shifting from sharing publicly to sharing just one-on-one or with a few, close friends. For example, more than 63% of users send content to one another through Facebook Messenger, compared to the 55% of people that have shared publicly, or, in the "town square."

Zuckerberg has proposed changes to Facebook that will shift to look more like it's sister brand, WhatsApp, a messaging app that users utilize to speak to direct audiences. This, however, cannot be pulled off easily, and many people are scrutinizing Zuckerberg already due to not having any sort of true business model. First, Facebook is a publicly traded company and therefore has a duty to pay shareholders. Despite having 15 million fewer users today than in 2017, Facebook's earnings have increased due to loyal advertisers. Changing Facebook's platform would mean changing ways of advertising, which could make the company lose part of their 7 million companies that advertise with them, which, of course, means a large decrease in profit.


upload.wikimedia.org

There are opportunities, however, to tap into markets that have never been reached before. Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram are all under the same company umbrella. These three, powerful platforms could work together to create a way of communicating that has never been done before, both benefitting the users and advertisers. Business professor and contributor to Forbes Magazine, Bhaskar Chakravorti described this innovation as, "creating new ways to open up advertising streams and tracking a diversity of user activity. This could lead to new revenue opportunities that are currently untapped and reduce costs through consolidation of the back end infrastructure and reduced need to monitor encrypted information." This could still have it's risks, though, being a completely new innovation, which Chakravori addresses later in the article.

It seems that at this point, this "privacy pivot" is a whole lot of talk and not a lot of walk. Personally, I just want a real step to be taken for my messages to be encrypted and secure. All of this other fancy innovation can come at a later time.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
girl holding phone
NYCPRGIRLS

Now that it seems “talking” is the new way to date, and will stay that way until another idiotic term is used to describe the people who can’t settle down and just date someone, I feel as if it’s time to go over the unwritten rules of “talking.”

Rule 1. Having feeling without feeling.

Keep Reading...Show less
The Stages of Having FOMO in College
iamthatgirl.com

Are you one of those people that gets super upset when you miss out on anything? Well, you may have FOMO, or fear of missing out. In college it’s not hard to experience FOMO every once in a while. You just love doing everything and anything, so hen you have to miss out on something it's the worst possible thing in your mind. Whether you’re sick, have to work, or have so much work to do you could cry – FOMO will hit you hard in college.

Keep Reading...Show less
Vivien Leigh
Revelist

I've lived a whole 21 years with an RBF (Resting Bitch Face), so naturally, I go through most of these struggles on a daily basis.

And before you ask, yes I'm fine. No, I'm not mad. This is just my face, so take it or leave it! To those of you who have been #blessed with an RBF, you'll probably relate to these more than you'd like to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

Iconic Duos: Timeless Legends

From Luke and Leia to Beyonce's twins...

774691
Luke and Leia from Star Wars, a iconic duo
Lucasfilm

“Name a more iconic duo... I'll wait." OK, well, if you insist. In no particular order, here's a list of 100 iconic duos that seem to be timeless.

SEE MORE: This Is The ICONIC Disney Sidekick You Are To Your BFF, According To Your Zodiac Sign

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

A Candid Letter to My Best Friends Ex

Because this is the real form of torture you deserve.

911
middle finger
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

What's up Asshat,

I've composed a list of things that I wish upon you, and they're harsh and cruel. These things are things that I wouldn't wish upon my worst of enemies, not even that Starbuck's barista who always screws up my order, not even him. You fall into a whole other category of hate. You surpass Starbucks barista. Congratulations, I'm actually a pretty nice person, making you worthy of every single bit of torture I wish upon you. What are these things I wish upon you you might ask?

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments