Negative views of Facebook up after data scandal: Angus Reid

Over the last month, the number of people who hold an unfavourable public opinion of Facebook Inc. has increased, and almost three-quarters of respondents to an Angus Reid survey plan on making changes to their use of the platform, according to data released by the research company on Monday. The pollster also found that 73 per cent of respondents said they would change their privacy settings, use the social media platform less and take a break, while four per cent said they would delete their accounts entirely. About 57 per cent of respondents said they use the platform every day. The research's conclusions were partly informed by revelations last week that Facebook data was used by data analytics company Cambridge Analytica to influence elections around the world. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) announced last week that it is investigating whether Canadian data was among the 50 million Facebook user profiles found to have been exploited. Angus Reid also found that the beleaguered social media company suffered a hit to its reputation. The net change in opinion reported by Angus Reid was a negative 34 points when the amount of respondents who said their opinion of the company had worsened was subtracted from the number who said it had improved. “The second wave of data shows the Cambridge Analytica disclosures have further damaged favourable views of Facebook,” the report said. The revelations directly resulted in the 10 per cent who said they would take a break or delete their accounts. The report also cited other Facebook problems, including its advertising algorithm working in then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s favour and the issue of fake news during the 2016 Presidential election. Those who use the platform more often were split about the effect it has on “public discourse,” but those who end up logging into Facebook less more often felt like it was not helping societal unity. Overall, 35 per cent of respondents felt that Facebook is negatively influencing public discourse, with only 18 per cent saying it had a positive effect. The results were collected from two sets of surveys, the first between Feb, 28 and March 2 with a sample size of a representative, randomized 1,501 Canadian adults and another between March 21 and 22 — following the Cambridge revelations — with a sample size of 1,509 people. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Negative views of Facebook up after data scandal: Angus Reid

Brief | March 26, 2018

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Negative views of Facebook up after data scandal: Angus Reid

Brief | March 26, 2018

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