Based on my previous writing on online self-investment and its paradox, what can Google search data tell us about the current Facebook privacy situation and its consequences?
Taking into account the fact that Insights only offer a limited scope of information, the following data interpretation should be considered with at least some scrutiny.
While this hockey stick is not Al Gore's scare tactic to believe in his man-bear-pig, skepticism is due because the data of this ongoing topic is still coming in. However, for the time being it seems that the trend has already reached its peak and is now stagnating, even more signs that the buzz about account deletion is of limited reach.
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G3: Blue - quit facebook, Red - delete facebook
Yellow - facebook alternative, Green - facebook evil
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What's interesting is that the global increase was only twofold compared to recent data and about threefold in the midterm - which, if paralleled to the already ginormous and still exponentially growing number of Facebook users doesn't seem that big of an increase - certainly, at first sight this fact diminishes the hopes of Facebook profile deletion advocates.
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| G4: Blue = quit myspace, Red = delete myspace Yellow = delete facebook, Green = quit facebook |
But let's look at it from a slightly better perspective, comparing it to the dying mammoth, Myspace, and its historic record.
In several ways MySpace isn't comparable to Facebook. The main buzz around it was security/safety, not privacy - all thanks to its universally visible profiles (at that time Facebook was ironically offering a private alternative to it).
Additionally, search traffic and circumstances were different three to five years ago than they are now.
Yet still, intriguing conclusions can be made by comparing Facebook and MySpace search data: inquiries into deleting MySpace accounts slowly grew until 2007 and then remained steady throughout. In contrast with that Facebook deletion steadily grew for two years like MySpace and then started an increasingly steeper incline from 2009 onward.
This could mean that there actually is something going on with the number of people deleting their profiles or informing themselves on how to do it, in part because Facebook made it so hard for users to actually delete their profiles.
It could also mean that Facebook has a steady user drop that correlates with user signup.
Though only Facebook internal data could provide a real answer, it remains to be seen what impact this trend will have.
Deleting it or quitting it?
Evidently, quitting is not the word to use when it comes to social networking. Quantities for both Facebook and MySpace when it comes to quitting are practically negligible. What then is the significance of deleting over quitting? The fact is that nobody's quitting or interested in actual quitting but in deleting instead.
In contemporary sense of the word, deleting refers to data removal, it connotes erasing information. The word quitting means severing the ties with no intention of restoring them again, disassociating from social networks and relations you've established, from the profile(s) you've invested yourself in.
In this case, quitting also means turning one's back on Facebook as a brand - as can be seen on the graph (G4), Facebook's quitting record recently started climbing up. Where it will lead to remains to be seen.
Social network "evil"
Why will online self-investment paradox cause Facebook to come out of this relatively unscratched -unless the government gets involved: despite many inquiries into deleting the profile, few think Facebook itself is evil. The number is steadily climbing and is now on the same level at which MySpace was in 2007, at the peak of its evilness.
Compared to MySpace which had deletion and evil stigma walking hand in hand at its peak days, Facebook's evil and profile deletion do not match or correlate at all. This either means that users don't need additional information to verify Facebook's evil intents, that they've become smarter and more decided since 2007 or that the hottest social networking website on the planet is coated in teflon.
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Blue = quit myspace Red = delete myspace
Yellow = myspace alternative, Green = myspace evil |
Monopoly as the safe harbor
Data shows that there is also very little talk of Facebook alternatives. As discussed in my previous writing on online self-investment and Facebook, this is a major reason why Facebook has nothing to fear.
That could mean that users are maturing, the novelty of social networks is wearing off and the need for further presence anywhere is disappearing with some users, especially those seeking deletion of their profiles. It shows that users could be moving on to other, different niches online, and that they are defining their online interests.
However, that is only a small portion of all the users who are displaying a pattern similar to that of early adopters. Other users who are a majority, however, tend to follow the first wave.
......
That was a very brief overview of some assumptions and speculations that I've conjured up to satisfy my own curiosity. What I found is perhaps even less important than what the data made me think about.
The fact is that Facebook isn't threatened on a larger scale by any means but the share and loudness of those who are actively seeking to make it accountable for its handling of user data and counter its general attitude is growing at a increasingly faster pace. As long as it doesn't outpace the new user sign-ups, Facebook has unfortunately nothing to fear.
Instead of a conclusion I'd offer a hint for Facebook, its enemies and its competitors alike: turn the situation to your advantage by showing ads next to the above mentioned search queries, offering users to either rethink their decision, reassure them of searched service's safety or put a negative spin on it, encouraging them to join another (your) social network.
The real question in this case is: how much is a user worth to you? Search engines are doing it, you should be as well - if you can afford it.
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