Facebook Gained Users During Privacy Flap

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By: Ari B. Adler

Remember the big dust-up over Facebook privacy and how whole bunches of people were going to quit? Not only did May 31, 2010 go down in flames, Mark Zuckerberg and crew apparently get to dance on the ashes, too.

According to the Web site of the group that organized “Quit Facebook Day,” more than 36,000 people vowed to quit. Note that doesn’t mean they actually quit, but rather that they have committed to quit, at some point, when they don’t feel the need to be on Facebook anymore. I hope no one is holding their breath waiting for all 36,000-plus people to really pull the trigger.

Sure, 36,000 sounds like a lot of people. It would make Yankee Stadium more than half full, and that’s no small feat. But to put it in perspective, there are more than 400 million users on Facebook, and some estimates say that number will climb to 500 million this summer. According to Erik Qualman at Socialnomics, if Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest. Even at the 400 million figure, that still means only .009 percent of the users committed to quitting on May 31.

Now, let’s factor in how many people joined Facebook while the stampede -- cough -- away from the site was occurring. According to Silicon Alley Insider, the site added 9 million new U.S. unique visitors in May. Even broken down to a daily rate, that still means a hell of a lot more people are joining Facebook than quitting.

The people protesting Facebook’s privacy settings made some headway, because positive changes occurred. Of course, because of these changes, I’m betting that 36,000 figure of committed quitters is even lower than reported.

In the end, people need to remember something that I told the Lansing State Journal recently when interviewed about this issue. Facebook is not coming into our homes and taking our information from us. We are volunteering to provide that information to them.

So, if you don’t want something shared on Facebook, by Facebook or because of Facebook, there is an easy fix. Don’t put it on Facebook, or you can stomp your feet and throw a tantrum over something that was your fault in the first place.

I really hope you choose the first option. If nothing else, it means a lot less drama for the rest of us to endure.

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About the Author

Ari B. Adler is a professional communicator with a vast array of experience in media, public, and government relations for public and private sector employers. Read his blog, Here Comes Later, and follow him on Twitter.

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