Right now, few people are talking about anything other than
the Internet and all of its associated issues. Facebook has overstepped its
natural boundaries and gathered more data on users through obscure means than they
would ever consciously agree to. Europe is set to implement user protective GDPR
regulations next month.
Mark Zuckerberg appeared in front of Congress to express his
contrition (and explain how tech companies work to a bunch of politicians
itching to regulate). All forms of media covered the situation minute-by-minute
as it unfolded. Facebook users were shocked, appalled, up in arms about the
Company’s sick invasion of privacy. It looked like this could be a turning
point in Facebook’s otherwise generally upward trajectory with people pledging
to #DeleteFacebook in the wake of these revelations.
And yet, the tech companies aren’t really panicking. And advertisers aren’t seriously considering revamping their entire digital ad strategy
around the possibility that Facebook goes away. Why is this the case? Experts
say that social media users have short memories and that ultimately they would
rather participate on channels, seeing things (read: people, news, ads for cool
products) they want to see than preserve their privacy. As one marketing
consultant told CNBC, “There's a huge difference between what people say and
what people do. Americans complain about obtrusive ads until they see the next
'Star Wars' trailer.” Another one said that “The problem with sustained
interest in protecting data privacy is it's an ‘abstract concept.’”
I don’t know that I fully believe that – the conversation on
data privacy only seems to be growing each day – but I guess only time will
tell which sentiments live on and ultimately translate into action.
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