Brooke Saffire

The Facebook Dilemma

April 9, 2019

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 Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, along with his roommates and other

fellow Harvard College students. Today, there are billions of people using this platform with a

11.2 increase year on year. Studies also show that worldwide there are 1.495 billion daily active

users (smartinsights.com). In the documentary “The Facebook Dilemma,” five Facebook em-

ployees sit down for interviews where they talk about the company’s rise to success and also

touch on the low points, such as Facebook being “too slow” at times to respond to manipulation

of its algorithms. The documentary also shows nine former Facebook employees, along with

journalists.

When the news broke that Facebook had been sharing users information with data bro-

kers, many people lost trust in the company, including myself. Facebook completely violated the

privacy commitment it had to its users. The company made an agreement with all users that it

would not misrepresent the extent to which their data would be used. In 2011, Facebook pledged

to not share user data outside the company without explicit permission from its users. When I

was a consistent user on Facebook years ago, I agreed to the privacy settings where I anticipated

that Facebook would fully protect my data and not share it. I thought I could trust this platform!

However, in 2015 Cambridge Analytica occurred, where it came out to the public that over 87

million profiles had data being collected and shared (“The Facebook Dilemma”).

The video touched deeply on how Facebook deceived many users over and over by its

business activities with data brokers and its massive leak of data. Still, through it all, Zuckerberg

appeared in denial to fully recognize how big of an issue this was. It was not until his televised

broadcast interview with CNN that he fully admitted that he was sorry for what happened. He

stated, “I promise to do better for you”(“The Facebook Dilemma”). With that being said, the

company stated that it would start limiting the amount of data apps when users sign up and take
other measures to help secure users privacy to make sure this wouldn’t happen again (thev-

erge.com). I still to this day feel that Facebook violated users privacy rights and I believe that

many users also feel the same. Unfortunately, Facebook has become such a big part of our daily

lives and has become an outlet for people to connect and/or reconnect with distant relatives or

friends. Due to this, many people, including myself, stay on this platform despite the dishonesty

that the company has shown multiple times. I now choose to be on Facebook as little as I possi-

bly can.

With all of that being said, Facebook has made the world more open and connected. I

rarely ever use Facebook now, but when I do, it’s because I am connecting with family members

that I haven’t seen in a while or catching up with foreign exchange students that I met in high

school. I also use this platform to make sure I wish everyone a happy birthday when it’s the right

time because Facebook reminds me!

Also, I have a huge family —basically all of my aunts, uncles, older cousins, grandpar-

ents and grandparents siblings are on Facebook. The main way that I connect with them is

through this platform. Users have the option to connect with anyone that lives in any country for

free. That is one of the coolest things. Also, people share stuff on Facebook! Wedding announce-

ments, birth announcements, just bought a new pet or a house—Facebook is usually where this

news is shared. With Facebook we have the option to connect with whoever we want and share

whatever we want to share with a single click of the mouse.

I have never used WhatsApp but one piece of advice that I would give a newcomer to In-

stagram would be to not compare themselves to others. With social media becoming a huge part

of our everyday lives, it has its ups and downs, especially with Instagram. Instagram is a visual
platform where people post pictures and videos of their lives. It’s super cool that we get to use

this platform for self-expression and self-identity, but with all of its greatness also comes com-

parisons to the people we follow. In recent studies, Instagram is the platform that is most associ-

ated with high levels of anxiety, depression and bullying (time.com).

Unfortunately, people only share the highlights and most exciting parts of their lives on

Instagram. This sets unrealistic expectations and creates low self-esteem to those who think their

lives should be as awesome as the people they follow. I would love to tell a newcomer to be

aware of this! Most people do not share the boring or low points in their lives on Instagram. It’s

important to keep in mind that the way someone displays their life online, especially through In-

stagram, should not be taken that seriously because people only care about showing the appeal-

ing moments. When one notices themselves starting to compare their lives to others through In-

stagram, I would suggest to take a social media break! Not going on Instagram or even deleting

the app for a couple days, weeks, months—however long needed, can be extremely refreshing

and good for the mind. I think with any social media platform we should all keep in mind that

even with the good, bad can also follow and it’s all about awareness and being able to take a

break when you notice it starting to affect you in a negative way. Social media is a great tool and

it should only be used to benefit our lives, not make it worse.

Citations:

How popular is Facebook vs Twitter vs Instagram vs Snapchat vs Pinterest? (2017, April 07).

Retrieved from https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-network-land-

scape-chartoftheday/
Statt, N. (2018, March 25). Mark Zuckerberg apologizes for Facebook's data privacy scandal in

full-page newspaper ads. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/25/17161398/face-

book-mark-zuckerberg-apology-cambridge-analytica-full-page-newspapers-ads

MacMillan, A. (2017, May 25). Why Instagram Is the Worst Social Media for Mental Health.

Retrieved from http://time.com/4793331/instagram-social-media-mental-health/

“The Facebook Dilemma”

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T48KFiHwexM&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuA4qxPbpQE&feature=youtu.be