Facebook changed the course of history after being launched in 2004. It was the start of a social media craze that slowly took over the world.
Even though MySpace and Orkut existed, Facebook surpassed all expectations and offered users unique features. Examples included posting on friends’ walls, sharing live feeds, etc. This platform also helped countless people find their long-lost friends, chat with people, and share life updates.
That’s why this social media platform gained popularity very quickly. According to Statista, approximately 179 million Americans actively used Facebook as of January 2022.
While Facebook has many benefits, certain instances make it dangerous for young audiences. For example, this platform can negatively affect mental health, leading young adults and teens to develop low self-esteem and depression.
In this blog, we will discuss three similar disturbing facts you probably didn’t know about this social media giant.
#1. Effects on Mental Health
Social media, especially Facebook, has become integral to every youngster’s life. This platform allows them to stay connected with friends and be updated about the latest trends or relevant news. However, many believe the engaging and informative features make it addictive and do more harm than good.
Sometimes, young users fall prey to negative social comparisons and cyberbullying. As a result, they may develop eating disorders, low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems. These can happen to your child if they spend multiple hours scrolling through or chatting on Facebook.
Reports suggest that the parent company, Meta, has deliberately engineered the algorithm to generate content that’s addictive. It has also taken advantage of and capitalized on teen vulnerabilities.
Once the parents learned about this, they were furious. Hence, they filed a Facebook lawsuit to hold Meta liable for creating a slew of mental health problems. The plaintiffs allege the defendants knew about the side effects of social media addiction but took advantage of it for profit.
According to TorHoerman Law, thousands of mental health lawsuits are being filed against social media giant Meta. Moreover, plaintiffs are eligible for compensation based on the suffering caused, emotional damage, therapy, and medical treatment costs.
#2. A Place for Child Predators
Social media, especially Facebook, has become the digital playground of pedophiles and sexual predators. To test this out, researchers created a fake account of a 13-year-old girl.
Soon, it garnered approximately 6,700 followers. Most of these followers were creepy adult males. Some of them privately messaged the account to make offline contact. Moreover, the disgusting fact is that this account received multiple pictures and videos of men’s genitalia.
Even though the account tried to report the messages, Meta stated there was no ‘Community Standard’ violation. This instance proves that it’s easy for predators to send disturbing sexual images without any repercussions or accountability. Hence, they target young girls for human trafficking, solicitation, and grooming. Even though Meta is aware of these instances, they aren’t putting forward sufficient changes to prevent sexual exploitation.
To be safe from this, you can ask your kids to avoid accepting friend requests from suspicious and unknown profiles. You should also tell them the importance of privacy and why it would be best to avoid sharing personal information online. Moreover, you can monitor who they interact with on Facebook.
#3. Your Personal Data Isn’t Safe
Have you ever seen an unsuspecting ad pop up as you scroll through Facebook after searching about that on Google? Well, that’s because Facebook collects a lot of clickstream and search data from user profiles.
Reports suggest that Meta employs the systematic use of massive personal data. They use online tracking mechanisms across various websites in the name of offering a personalized experience. This platform also builds a complex yet evolving user profile based on predictive analysis. Due to that, Facebook has an unfair advantage in creating and offering personalized or customized ads.
Apart from analyzing your data, this platform can also determine user behavior. They do this by tracking cookies, viewing tag suggestions, analyzing likes, and using facial recognition.
While this can sometimes be a positive thing for users, it most definitely isn’t the safest. For instance, Facebook has sold personal data to third-party sources for profit before. That means this social media platform is the epitome of privacy concerns and misuse of user data.
In summary, Facebook isn’t a safe place, especially for the young generation. Unfortunately, child predators loom in every corner, disguising themselves as someone else. Everyone’s data is vulnerable on this platform. Similarly, using Facebook too much can negatively affect mental health.
But how can this be resolved? Facebook will become safe only after the parent organization brings a wide spectrum of technology applications to protect privacy and safety.
