Study finds that more than one-in-four have deleted the Facebook app from their phones
According to a survey of 4,594 people conducted between May 29th and June 11th, 26% have removed the Facebook app from their phones. Only 9% decided to download all of the personal information about them that Facebook was holding. On the other hand, 54% have adjusted the privacy settings on the Facebook app, and 42% have taken a multi-week break from the platform.
The survey revealed that Facebook users 18 to 29 years of age were more likely to have deleted the app (44%) than those 65 and older (12%). While one-in-three members of the latter group adjusted the privacy settings on the app, those adjustments were made by 64% of users in the younger group. There wasn't much of a difference between the two age brackets when it came to taking a break from the site; 40% of the kids and 47% of their elders took a temporary vacation from the app.
The survey results might have been affected by the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which originally broke in March. As it turned out, approximately 87 million Facebook subscribers had personal information used without their permission by Russian-American researcher Aleksandr Kogan. The latter sold the information to political consultant firm Cambridge Analytica, allegedly for use by the Trump campaign.
Earlier today, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg testified in front of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence along with other executives from social media companies. The hearing was held to study these how these firms responded to foreign influence on their platforms.
Meanwhile, the study from Pew found that Facebook membership is comprised of the same number of Republicans and Democrats. Both parties had equal number of Facebook users take a break from the app, or delete it from their phones.
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