Facebook crisis prompts soul-searching
Silicon Valley firms look at dark side of their data-driven business model
Silicon Valley firms look at the dark side of their data-driven business model.
SAn FrAncISco: With Facebook mired in its worstever crisis, the rest of Silicon Valley is looking to come to terms with the dark side of its datadriven business model where tech titans have mined fortunes from what people reveal online.
There are signs the crisis could spread to other Internet firms that have made no secret about using what they glean from digital data for targeted advertising.
That same personal data can be used effectively by those with malicious intent when it comes to influencing people.
“It is Facebook this week, but it could be others,” tech industry analyst Rob Enderle said of the crisis of confidence laying siege to the social network.
“At the very least, this is the common problem across the tech industry.”
The tumultuous week ended with Facebook losing 14% of its market value, wiping out more than US$50bil (RM195bil) from one of the biggest and most powerful companies.
A public apology by Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg failed to quell outrage over the hijacking of personal data from millions of people by Cambridge Analytica.
Belatedly speaking out about the harvesting of Facebook user data by the British firm linked to President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign, Zuckerberg admitted to betraying the trust of its more than two billion users, and promised to “step up”.
But some point out that Facebook is just one of many firms which mine data for profit – albeit the most successful, along with Google – as digital lifestyles take root around the world.
“Phones, apps, and the web are so indispensable to our daily lives – a testament to the benefits they give us – that we’ve become a captive audience,” the nonprofit Center for Humane Technology said.
“With two billion people plugged into these devices, technology companies have inadvertently enabled a direct channel to manipulate entire societies with unprecedented precision.”
What happens now? Some users are joining the #deleteFacebook movement, but it remains unclear if advertisers will abandon the important platform.
Highprofile entrepreneur Elon Musk joined the critical chorus on Friday, saying in an exchange on Twitter that he was shutting down the Facebook accounts of his Tesla and SpaceX enterprises.
“What’s Facebook?” Musk quipped rhetorically in an exchange on Twitter. While it may seem tempting to join a movement to abandon Facebook, it does raise the question of where one will go to stay connected with friends, celebrities or businesses that have become part of the fabric of the online community.
New York University marketing professor Scott Galloway said advertisers could have an impact if they left Facebook but said it was unlikely to lose many of its five million ad customers.
“Advertisers need Facebook much more than Facebook needs any one, or thousand, advertisers.”