After having to face severe criticism for manipulating and harming its users mentally, Facebook is now seeking opinions about what they think about the social network. Many users have witnessed pop-up polls which ask them to rate their agreement or disagreement with the remark, “Facebook is good for the world.”
The social network is reeling under the burden of shrinking engagement in its home country, for issues like psychological dependence or addiction, and its involvement in Russian propaganda ads which impacted the votes of American voters during the recent election. In addition, it’s losing young users to Snapchat and other platforms. So, whether it is trying to get rid of some guilt, or just re-engaging, this step should help Facebook repair its image among users.
Whoa pic.twitter.com/aHX9mzVjaG
— Ben Smith (@benyt) February 15, 2018
The poll received by users seeks opinions about Facebook’s contribution to the world and asks them to choose one of the five options ranging from “Strongly agree” to “Strongly disagree”. After users select the option of their choice, they are offered a text box in which they can enter additional feedback. The poll is appearing to only some of the users and as of now, it is a little difficult to determine if this a mass survey or limited to select people.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg had recently remarked how he desires to “study the positive and negative aspects of these technologies“, and will be treating 2018 as a “serious year of self-improvement“. The company had recently promised that it will allow users to have complete control over their privacy. In compliance with EU’s guidelines, it said that it will launch a privacy control center for not just European users but those worldwide.
This is a thing Facebook is doing now? Asking users whether they agree that it's good for the world? A leading question that doesn't leave a lot of room for nuance. What are they going to use this for? pic.twitter.com/SrQsEwcNBM
— Jennifer Cobbe (@jennifercobbe) January 7, 2018
Facebook, however, appeared to be falling short of its promise as it was reported to be spamming users who signed up for two-factor authentication and also for (ironically) tracking the usage of those who wielded its VPN solution, Onavo. It remains to be seen if the company is actually willing to implement changes based on the feedback or if this is another of Facebook’s attempts to make users feel that they are in control.
