More and more Facebook users have been complaining that their profiles and news feeds have been overtaken by pornographic and violent images including self harm and bestiality. According to experts, ZDnet, it's a virus being spread through links from user to user which is activated when someone thinks he or she is clicking on a link to a news story. Users feel upset that not enough has been done to address the issue, perfectly understandable when Facebook has failed to prevent it from spreading. Users are so upset in fact they they have turned to Twitter to complain. One user even tweeted,
"Facebook should do something about the photoshopped porn images, it's offensive,"- Courtesy of BBC News Online
Not A Sight For Young Eyes
Offensive it most certainly is. Facebook is a social network aimed at younger people, some of which are too young to be seeing such images publicly, particularly on a site which is meant to be secure and protected from such viruses. Its upsetting for most people to see explicit sexual content but particularly for children. And that's not the only issue. Images of sever animal cruelty have also been reported, and that is something a child could understand and be very upset about seeing.
Consequences For Facebook?
Facebook have today released a statement that it is aware of the virus and will be launching an investigation into it and its origins. However, it's too little too late for some users who have already deactivated their accounts. Can you trust a website which makes it look as though you have "Liked" or posted this horrific content? No, probably not and you certainly risk having your reputation ruined because of it. After all, no one wants to see these images, particularly on a website which is supposed to be friendly and a place to interact with friends and family. Parents of younger children certainly would loose all faith and trust in Facebook being an appropiate place for their children to visit and thus deactivate their accounts. If left unchallenged, then Facebook will loose more and more users and gain a bad reputation for security and content.
Key Take Away
This is something Facebook need to talk about and certainly need to tackle ASAP if they are to stop having other users forsake them . They need the youth of today to be proactive users as these are the future users, the ones who will keep it going from strength to strength. If left without any intervention, Facebook will really be a questionable social network. One thing all networks should do is protect its users from such content and a failure to do so will leave them with a bad reputation which they may well deserve.
~ Articles mentioned in this post: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15740798
~Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27079038@N08