In Facebook we Trust
In Facebook we Trust. Really? There used to be a time, just until a few years ago, in which that was ludicrously true. The social network was the coolest thing ever. Everybody was there, or wanted to. Nothing was more fun, especially for the youngest ones. Stuff, that one would hide from their own parents or sons, would be shared with millions of people, all over the world: the craziest parties, non confessed infidelities, hidden nudity, our intimate hobbies, the most pathetic day of our lives… Everything that would catch our eye, including intimacy, ugliness, big mistakes… suddenly, inexplicably it was there.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, April 2018 – photo wikipedia
Finally, thanks to Silicon Valley and its technology, the world was becoming a better place! And also thanks to the coolest guy in the world, doing the coolest things, and making tons of money in the smartest and coolest ways. A visionary. A god. A pop star. A friend… a cool guy. And always in a t-shirt. How many of them will uncle Mark have in his multi million-dollar guy’s wardrobes? A hundred? One thousand? A million? Will those t-shirts ever be sold for astronomical sums of money in an auction, like if they were John Lennon’s underpants? Just wait and see. But the day hasn’t come yet.
And now, the Ten Year Challenge meme has triggered the deepest suspicions in the media, as well as in social platforms. Why is that ? Would it had been the same five or ten years ago ? Most probably it would have been just regarded as another amusing thing to do, but not really transcendent. Just cool and fun.
But back then, people were instantly getting thousands of alleged friends, from all over the world, without boundaries. And that was cool!
For now, Facebook, has been managing our intimacies and not always in the most convenient ways. Stuff, we wanted to be available to our inner circle only, was accessible to anyone. And then, one of the first things a recruiter would do in order to check a candidate’s suitability would be to go into his or her account. And there it would be: the most alcoholic day of my life, or check out my cute Barbie and Kent collection or guess what part of my anatomy I showed to my teacher after graduation or meet Dickey, my coolest tattoo. And so on. Catastrophe. A one day’s in life mistake would become, for many, an unbearable and eternal stigma.
Silicon Valley Documentary Trailer. 19 de March, Discovery ‘s Science Channel:
And yes, that was the user’s fault, for being so naif and not careful enough. And yes, that would also happen in other social networks. But Facebook has always been the most successful in number of users. And, in another hand, it would change their policies in the most capricious and surprising manner, in ways that would not always be comfortable, both for users and marketers. The multiple policy changes, in the user’s interface, for example, have finally undermined the trust users and companies used to have in the social network.
Since 2018, for instance, when a user publishes something to be seen by their friends, it will not necessarily be the case. Facebook’s algorithm decides who sees what and when. And it appears most of one’s publications will not be seen by all of one’s friends! Many companies, small, medium and big, had been working on their influence on Facebook. But after that change in user’s interface they are constrained to pay for Facebook ads in order to get any results. Many of them feel like, one more time, they have been fooled. And many have lost important amounts of money too.
But the drop that overflowed the glass was, no doubt, the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Oops! Cool t-shirt guy wasn’t cool t-shirt guy anymore. He put a suite and a tie and declared in front of the Congressmen and Congresswomen of the USA. Many think that was a tough moment for good old Mark. Others think it was a customized show, in which Zuckerberg could easily answer tailored questions and look like a really innocent young man, that will, from now on, behave. The boy had finally learned the lesson. He would be more careful from now on, wouldn’t he. Let’s not forget, anyway, that he is not a boy anymore, but a married 35 year old father.
Mark Zuckerberg’s most Funny & Awkward moments in front of US Congress:
Which version should we stick to? Up to the reader. Maybe something in between? Anyways, since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook is not the same anymore. The social network will probably have to face a steeper path from now on. Let’s wait and see.
EXTERNAL LINKS:
The complex history of ‘In God We Trust’ by David Mislin, The Conversation.com
Discovering Intimacy on Facebook by Alex Lambert on Springer Link
Facebook Policy
Comments on new Facebook policy, by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, on Facebook (you will need to log in)
Facebook Is Changing. What Does That Mean for Your News Feed? By Jonah Engel Bromwich and Matthew Haag on The New York Times
Why Should Anyone Believe Facebook Anymore? by Fred Vogelstein in Wired Magazine
Mark Zuckerberg’ biography by Encyclopaedia Brittanica
Mark Zuckerberg bio by Married Biography
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