Facebook’s struggles with data misuse aren’t slipping by its users, at least according to new data from Pew Research Center. That data shows that some 42 percent of surveyed Facebook users have taken a “several weeks or more” long break from Facebook within the last year.
As highlighted by The Verge, Pew surveyed Facebook users in the United States from the age of 18 and up. The survey was conducted from May 29th though June 11th, which as you may recall, was just over a month after Zuckerberg testified in Congress as Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica relationship was exposed.
Of those respondents to the survey, 4 in 10 said they’ve taken a break from Facebook for “several weeks or more,” while a quarter said they have completely deleted the Facebook application from their phone.
There’s also a clear generational trend to Facebook use. 44 percent of users aged between 18 and 29 said they had deleted the Facebook application. That compares to 20 percent between the ages of 50 and 64, and 12 percent 65 years and older.
Over half of the survey respondents said that they had “adjusted their privacy settings” on Facebook.
Meanwhile, despite concerns that Facebook and other social media companies sensor conservatives, Pew found that Republicans are no more likely to leave or take a break from Facebook as Democrats are:
The poll found that nearly identical shares of Democrats and Republicans (including political independents who lean toward either party) use Facebook. Republicans are no more likely than Democrats to have taken a break from Facebook or deleted the app from their phone in the past year.
Facebook has faced a string of controversies in the last year, the penultimate of which being Cambridge Analytica misusing user data of as many as 50 million Facebook users.
Have you taken any action to remove yourself from Facebook? Let us know down in the comments.
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