Did the Cambridge Analytica scandal affect the number of Facebook users?

Facebook has gone through one of the most difficult periods of its existence. It all started with the scandal with Cambridge Analytica, after which many users reported their departure from the social network due to concerns about their privacy. There were also voices predicting the imminent end of Facebook. What are the real consequences of the affair?

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Around 307 million Europeans use Facebook.

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In December 2016, the number of daily users of the mobile version of Facebook amounted to 1,15 billion, year-on-year this number increases by 23%.

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In the last quarter of 2017, Facebook recorded 2,13 billion monthly active users. There are approximately 83 million fake profiles on Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg source VICE News

At the time when the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke out, attention was drawn to individuals and companies who decided to say goodbye to the famous social network and cancel their account - even Elon Musk was no exception, who canceled the Facebook accounts of his companies SpaceX and Tesla, as well as your personal account. But how is it in reality with the announced and feared mass exodus of Facebook users?

The revelation that Cambridge Analytica used the social network Facebook to collect data from around 87 million users without their knowledge even led to its founder Mark Zuckerberg being questioned by Congress. One of the consequences of the affair was the #deletefacebook campaign, which was joined by a number of well-known names and companies. But how did "ordinary" users really react to the affair?

The results of the online poll, which took place between April 26 and 30, showed that about half of Facebook users in the United States have not reduced the time they spend on the social network in any way, and a quarter are even using Facebook even more intensively. The remaining quarter either spend less time on Facebook or have deleted their account - but this group is in a significant minority.

64% of users said in the survey that they use Facebook at least once a day. In a poll of the same type, which took place before the affair, 68% of respondents admitted to using Facebook on a daily basis. Facebook also saw an influx of new users – their number in the United States and Canada grew from 239 million to 241 million in three months. It looks like the scandal didn't even have a significantly negative effect on the company's finances. Facebook's revenue for the first quarter of this year is $11,97 billion.

Source: Techspot