Two in Three Facebook Users Trust Facebook Less

MGH released the results of a survey it conducted of 659 American Facebook users who became aware of Cambridge Analytica’s use of Facebook data in recent weeks to determine if there are now trust issues between these users and the social media giant. The political data firm hired by President Trump’s 2016 election campaign gained access to private information from more than 50 million Facebook users.

The survey found that among respondents who were aware of the news about Cambridge Analytica, 67 percent trust the social media network less than they did before learning about its handling of personal data in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. When asked if they trust Facebook to keep their personal information safe, more than 70 percent disagreed, with 38 percent completely disagreeing and 33 percent somewhat disagreeing.

Despite this lack of trust in Facebook’s ability to protect user data, 57 percent of those aware of recent news about Cambridge Analytica and Facebook say they are unlikely to delete their account.

Of the other social media options available should users decide to leave Facebook altogether, 24 percent of all respondents said they’d move to Facebook-owned Instagram as their primary channel, while 19 percent chose Twitter and 4 percent said they’d move to Snapchat. More than half of those surveyed were unsure of where they would go if they left Facebook, or if they would continue to use social media at all.

“While trust in Facebook has clearly taken a severe hit, this survey shows that users are still very apprehensive to leave the network altogether,” commented Ryan Goff, Chief Marketing Officer and Social Media Marketing Director at MGH. “Marketers should take note — users may be angry with Facebook, but whether it’s to stay in touch with family and friends, or because they still get their news on the platform, they won’t be deleting their accounts any time soon.”

Other notable stats included:

•     When asked if those surveyed believed that Facebook values users like them, 22 percent said they completely disagreed, 24 percent somewhat disagreed, 25 percent remained neutral, 23 percent agreed somewhat and only 6 percent completely agreed.
•     While more than 66 percent say they trust Facebook less now, 33 percent say their trust has not changed in the network.
•     Most of those surveyed say they are very unlikely to delete their account, though 22 percent say they are somewhat unlikely, 26 percent say they aren’t sure, 12 percent are somewhat likely and 5 percent are very likely to leave Facebook.
•     Of those surveyed, daily Facebook users are least likely to delete their account (41 percent).
•     Of those surveyed, 46 percent disagree completely or somewhat that Facebook values users like them.