Do you think Facebook is evil? You're not alone. More and more people are waking up to the fact that the social media giant isn't really concerned about their billion or more members. Keep reading if you want to know why we think Facebook is the most evil company around and will continue to be on top of that list for 2014 and beyond.
Is Facebook Really Evil?
Here's some evidence that you can use to make your own decision about whether or not Facebook is an "evil" company that needs to be stopped.
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Beheadings - You may not remember this, but Facebook said it was okay with images of beheadings being shown on their site - as long the post included a disclaimer or warning. This goes to show that for Facebook, the only thing that really matters is money.
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Greed - Revenue is good, but greed is evil. Facebook has shown again and again they'll do anything as long as it makes them some money. Going along with privacy concerns, when they first came out with sponsored stories, they had a lot of problems that people complained about, but they kept the advertising method in place. This goes to show that greed is good at Facebook - which makes them evil.
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Privacy - One of the big concerns that people have with Facebook is their privacy policies. They change them constantly whenever they want and don't seem too concerned about what some of their users think about the changes. They even shut down the FB page of a clothing company & when Axcess Financial was getting into social media when they posted their customer details on their page as part of a sweepstakes they held. I mean its a freakin' contest off course they would post the winners on their page!
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No Remorse - Instead of saying that they realize they're making mistakes and will try harder, Facebook just keeps chugging along like nothing is wrong. As long as they're making money hand over fist, they don't care about the harm they're doing to society in general. They offer lame excuses about privacy concerns, but they don't fix the problems!
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Stalker's Paradise - This goes along with our point about privacy above, but digging deeper it becomes easy to see that Facebook is a paradise for stalkers. The social media website makes it easy to spy on people without them knowing. Add in the fact that Facebook privacy controls are so difficult Zuckerberg's sister couldn't set them right, and you have a recipe for disaster.
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Game Requests - This one may not be as evil as some of the other points listed above, but if you're not tired of people asking you to play some lame game on Facebook, you must not have many friends on the site!
The above aren't the only reasons that some people think Facebook is evil, but it's a good starting point for anyone trying to make a case against the social network giant.
Photo credits: CleveredFool.com
Facebook in 2014 and Beyond
As the title of this article suggests, we're next going to look at whether or not Facebook will continue being evil in 2014 and beyond. The easy answer is that they're not going to make changes that will make them a sweetheart that everyone loves. The most likely scenario - now that they're a publicly traded company - is that they're going to keep chasing as much revenue as they can.
What Facebook Can Learn from MySpace
While no one can really say that MySpace was evil, they weren't able to stay the darling of social media enthusiasts. Because of that, we want to go over some of the specific lessons that Facebook can learn from MySpace.
- Users First - The first lesson that Facebook needs to take to heart is that they should be paying more attention to their users rather than shareholders. There's a fine line that needs to be walked to make both groups of people, but the members should be the most important priority because without them Facebook will start to be called Failbook.
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Young Users - In addition to making sure users come first whenever a decision is made, it's important to attract a younger audience. Without the young and hip crowd, Facebook faces the real possibility that they may jump the shark and lose their top spot in the social media world.
- Remember the Titanic - If you told people that MySpace would dry up and wither you would've been laughed at just a few years ago, but this is what happened. After Murdoch bought the company - for billions of dollars - many thought the social networking site was unsinkable like the Titanic. The problem is that it was too similar to the Titanic because the site sunk after hitting an iceberg.
- Non China Friendly - We all know people in china have to access all major western sites with proxies, Facebook simply refuses to allow anyone with proxies or switchvpn's to connect and therefore rules out an audience of over 1 billion people who would probably love to chat with all their mates and meet up just like others, Pretty unfair eh?
Please, Facebook, be Good
The only thing that is going to get Facebook to change their practices is if they start losing members. And at that point it may be too late to do anything. While Facebook has a huge global audience, this doesn't mean the people are going to stick around. Users online can be really fickle and Mark Zuckerberg seems to be a bit arrogant in thinking that people will always love his website.
Facebook is a pretty slick website that makes it easy to network with friends, family and others, which is why more people should stand up and let Zuckerberg know they're going to walk if he doesn't start putting the users first. By concentrating on the advertisers and revenue, Facebook faces a lot of difficulties in the months and years ahead. To save the site from becoming too evil, someone should start a Facebook fan page to let Zuckerberg know how many people he's upset over the years.
What do you think? Is Facebook evil or are they becoming so? Leave a comment and join the conversation below. We love to hear from our readers and think this is going to be a big issue in 2014 and beyond as Facebook struggles to keep their shareholders happy. In ten years, Facebook may become just a memory like Geocities or the many other giant websites that have failed and faltered eventually.