Mr Zuckerberg isn’t the problem – it’s the billion of us who use Facebook, explains Jon Honeyball

So the whole problem of Facebook and data, specifically Cambridge Analytica, has exploded onto the news. Commentators are “shocked”, “appalled” and “deeply worried”. MPs demand to have Mr Zuckerberg himself come to grovel in front of them. Mrs Williams of 55 Acacia Gardens, Wimbledon, is now scared to do her weekly online shopping at John Lewis and Ocado, in case her proclivity for the occasional bottle of gin “just as a pre-dinner drinkie, dear” marks her out as a raving alcoholic.

It’s hard to know where to start. Was this predictable? Absolutely, yes – and we have been predicting such an incident for years. Was it avoidable? Absolutely, yes. Is Facebook complicit in this? Without a doubt. Will it happen again? Of course. Is Facebook in trouble over this? Hopefully, yes.

The stark reality is that Facebook doesn’t give a damn about us – we are the ingredients that it uses to bake its financial cake. Knowing about us lets Facebook sell advertising and other information to third parties. This is what it does. It’s what it has always done and will always do. Facebook provides the playground for free, and believes its just reward is to make some money from knowing about what we do.

Some are arguing that Facebook should have a premier product that’s paid for, whereby a higher tier would be protected from such data slurping and sell-off. Maybe that would work, but let’s think it through. First, it would require customers to be prepared to pay. That’s quite a challenge. But it would also mean Facebook would be in deep trouble if it broke the contract. And that’s an even bigger challenge. What’s to stop it taking the, let’s say, $5 per month for a Premium Account and then just saying “oops” when you feature in some data mining in the future? It’s highly unlikely you would ever find out that you had been targeted. Even if you did, it could get away with a paltry “we’ll give you your $5 back this month as an apology”, and it’s just business as usual. Oh, and now it has concerned citizens handing over their credit card data as well.

Some are arguing that Facebook is too complicated for most people to configure in a moderately secure way. That may be true, but the stark reality is that most people don’t actually care. They don’t mind that they’re part of an ad campaign. They’re not selective about their friends – they might collect them by the thousand. It is, after all, a badge of “respect” to have thousands of “friends”. That’s what Meeja Slebs have, and so getting it yourself might turn you into the next superstar. It’s hard to argue with the logic, even if the likelihood of a positive outcome is almost nil.

Some are arguing that we should regulate Facebook and force them to behave more responsibly. But this is an organisation that states “you will not use Facebook if you are under 13. You will not use Facebook if you are a convicted sex offender” – while it has no means of validating either. Why? The cynic in me says it doesn’t care! Why should it? It can always turn around and wail “but he lied to us!”.

Will the users decide to lock things down? It’s unlikely because they don’t see this as being a problem, yet. It seems that younger generations are moving away from Facebook simply because they don’t want their parents watching over them. If Facebook can’t, or won’t, introduce the sort of controls and tools that allow teens to feel comfortable with their parents around, then it’s unlikely that it will introduce the sort of controls that cut it off from the foodstuff (that’s you and me). Look at the battering that Facebook’s share price has been receiving. Investors are concerned that Facebook’s ability to continue to ride on the gravy train might be limited.

This is symptomatic of the short-term view of financiers. “What’s the return on my money in the next day/week/month? Who gives a fig about next year or five years’ time?” The lesson to be learnt here is that we have had communities before. And they have withered and died. Facebook will go the same way too over time, because it too is refusing to innovate and put its users first. It will take time, of course, but there is nowhere to go when you have the majority of computer users on the planet using your service. The only question is the speed of the descent.

Like my friends, I am looking for other islands onto which I can move. Facebook is still useful, but only because I trust most of my friends to be as cynical about this as myself, and to ensure that they don’t put the collective group into danger.

And Mr Zuckerberg? I suspect he doesn’t give a damn. He’s made more money than he can ever spend. Plaintively wailing about a foundation to do good deeds rings hollow when his firm has systematically screwed his userbase for profit.

Facebook doesn’t give a damn about us – we are the ingredients that it uses to bake its financial cake