15 Reasons Why People Use Facebook Even After Billions Of Dollars In Fines

Despite facing hefty fines in the billions, there are people who still use the platform. A user asked the forum, “Why do people still use Facebook even after the billions of dollars in fines?” Here are the top responses. 

OLD PEOPLE IN MY FAMILY CHASTISE ME

“I don’t use it anymore, but the old people in my family chastise me for not staying on there. It’s too much a part of their routine to stop now. I imagine Facebook’s active core is old and getting older constantly.”

DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO HIDE

“The general public doesn’t care about that type of stuff. If you asked a random Facebook user, they’d probably say, ‘I don’t have anything to hide.'”

THESE FINES BARELY DO ANYTHING TO FACEBOOK

“My moments came around a year ago. I stopped using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the whole lineup of social media. I even quit WhatsApp and Telegram. I talk to people through Qamon.io and never worry about Mark Zuckerberg pleasuring himself with my data. 

You may not understand that these fines barely do anything to Facebook. They will sell more data and make that money back instantly. People use Facebook because it’s convenient. I believe decentralized communication is the solution, and I use it, too. But the technology needs to become as convenient as Facebook, for example, for mass adoption to be a thing.”

PRIVACY IS NOT IMPORTANT

“People don’t care about privacy. It’s a simple truth that people refuse to accept. For most people, their privacy simply isn’t something they value. Even the minuscule quality of life benefits they get, or at least think they get, from things like Facebook is always going to be greater than literally 0, and that’s the exact amount of value people prescribe to their privacy. 

For the most part, people keep some things very private. Things like nudes or adult content you like are the typical examples. If there is one thing I’ve noticed with most online pages, including this one, it’s that the concept of people having fundamentally different values to your own isn’t one that sinks in for most people anymore.”

FORTIFIES SENSE OF COMMUNITY

“Because they do not care about privacy, profiling, or data security. They want to live their comfortable life without thinking of all of this. I deleted my Facebook account in 2017, but people use it because it fortifies their sense of community from what I can see.”

FOLLOW A BAND ON FACEBOOK 

“I listen to technical death metal, and if I want to follow a band and hear about where they tour next time and what they are doing, Facebook is the best choice. 

I rarely share anything there, but I check it daily to see if any new music-related or exciting things are happening in my area. I know there are alternatives, but they are not half as good as Facebook.”

PEOPLE PRIORITIZE BENEFITS OVER PRIVACY

“This is an aside, but it’s unclear why Europe thinks that safe-harboring their data on European servers means American spies won’t take it. If anything, it’s less paperwork for United States intelligence agencies to breach foreign servers to collect information on foreigners!

As to your question, the perceived benefit they get from Facebook products outweighs whatever abstract privacy concerns they have.”

ADDICTION

“Addiction. Didn’t Meta even do a study on this?”

IMPORTANT GATHERINGS

“Unfortunately, and as much as I do my best to try and encourage people not to assume the world revolves around Facebook, many people still think, ‘if it’s not on Facebook, it’s not happening.’ 

The problem is that the inverse also seems to be true: people think that if they advertise their important things on Facebook, everyone will know about it. I’ve legitimately missed friends’ weddings, birthdays, social gatherings, etc., simply because they invited people on Facebook, and it never occurred to them that someone might not be an active user.

So, I have a Facebook account. I keep the information I give it as minimal as possible, but I check in there at least once a week just to make sure I’ve not missed anything I care about. 

I wish it weren’t so, but sometimes, one has to compromise to not miss out on people one cares about. All I can do is to limit the information I give it as much as I can.”

FAMILIARITY

“Familiarity, perhaps. It’s so deeply rooted in people’s lives, and they’ve gained so much ‘mind pleasure’ over the years that they’ll defend it and continue using it, as long as it serves them.”

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME

“Stockholm syndrome. Let’s put jokes aside. Been using it for years and have quite a few people on there I otherwise wouldn’t have contact with.”

NO OTHER VIABLE ALTERNATIVE

“Convenience, habit, and not caring about it. For example, most of the economically active part of my country is on Facebook because there is no other viable alternative here.

Suppose the people who work and spend money are there. In that case, businesses will be there to advertise, politicians will be there to communicate with their supporters, protests will be organized, and things like donation campaigns will also be effectively managed. 

Of course, plenty of fake information still exists, but the positives outweigh the negatives. So, as you can see, Facebook can be used for good.”

UNIQUE VILLAIN IN CYBERSPACE

“Most people I know who have a valid reason to use it do so because they could be more technology-savvy and use Facebook to connect with communities, allowing people who share a common interest to connect. 

I used it for that reason until I noticed that most of the content I saw people share was one form of complaining or another. I enjoyed the positive content but was overwhelmed by the constant political complaining or silly complaints about how people were treated doing mundane activities. So, I felt the whole thing was pretty jerky in the end. They have the snooze function for this reason. 

I am not so concerned about the privacy aspects of Facebook. I would never use Facebook in a way that would put me at risk. But I know others would. But honestly, people are doing that everywhere. Facebook isn’t a unique villain in cyberspace. Hopefully, things like Mastodon will become more popular.”

DIFFERENT TIMESCALES

“Timescales for older people just aren’t the same as for younger ones. 13 years ago, I was encouraged to join Facebook to keep in touch with my family. To me (Generation X), that’s not that long ago. To a boomer, that was practically yesterday. They are thinking, ‘I just figured out how to use this, and they want me to leave it?’”

PEOPLE CAN’T KEEP THEIR INSIPID THOUGHTS TO THEMSELVES

“Because humans have lost the remarkable ability to keep their insipid thoughts to themselves and validation by total strangers replaces well-needed therapy.

Facebook also encourages those who would be otherwise madly howling at the walls to ‘Be Heard.’ How else are you going to make real ‘Friends’?

People can be whatever they need to be to cope with themselves on Facebook, and any data breach that doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger. Facebook users are the strongest!

Infinitely scrolling while looking like a dummy is socially acceptable now, and Facebook is the perfect place for exposing your kid to everything wrong with people in one big bite.

Because being privacy invaded & data stolen by Zuck is painless and fun, too! 

Because people will overlook anything for likes.”

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This article was originally published on Mrs. Daaku Studio.