With 2.38 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world. Everyday, billions of people trust Facebook with their thoughts, photographs, and data. Yet, while Facebook is a phenomenal tool for superficial connection, in light of its 20+ scandals in 2018, it’s not a platform that users should trust.
What does this mean for The Jump? Opportunity. As companies like Uber, AirBnB, and Netflix have taught us, bad customer service creates opportunity. Combine these favorable circumstances with a platform that has no digital ads, better connection and loads of free content and you have a winner! But before learning about these features, let’s take a complete tour of Facebook’s scandals.
The “lowlights” of Facebook’s worst scandals in 2018
Last December, Issie Lapowsky from Wired wrote a phenomenal article detailing Facebook’s 21 scandals in 2018. The 10 scandals recorded in this blog post are based mostly on information from that article. We used some of our favorite GIFs to tell the story.
1. Facebook and Russia
The Mueller investigation, Congressmen, and the media have uncovered that Russian agents have significantly interfered with Facebook’s platform. During the 2016 U.S. election, employees from Russia’s Internet Research Agency (IRA) created fake accounts in an attempt to infuse the United States with propaganda. In July, Facebook also shut down 32 fake accounts that were likely linked to the IRA.
2. The UN identifies Facebook’s role in genocide in Myranmar
Facebook’s issues in Myanmar has contributed to the systematic slaughter of the Rohingya Muslims. Since the company has not sufficiently blocked content inciting violence between people groups in Southeast Asia and Oceania, Sri Lanka banned Facebook and Papua New Guinea has considered doing the same. 
3. Cambridge Analytica
In March, The New York Times revealed that private user data from Facebook was obtained by Cambridge Analytica, a technology firm that profiled private citizens for political purposes. Facebook admitted that Cambridge Analytica misappropriated the data of up to 87 million users. Consumers then learned that, until 2015, developers had broad access to user data on Facebook. Facebook is still trying to discover where all that data went. 
4. Facebook’s careless data deals
In June, a New York Times investigation uncovered that device manufacturers like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Blackberry struck deals with Facebook, in which Facebook agreed to give them access to user data. In December, The Times also exposed that Facebook struck data sharing deals with over 150 companies, including Netflix and Spotify. Facebook’s sale of data in this manner is a massive violation of user privacy. 
5. Earnings report causes Facebook stock to tank
In Facebook’s second quarter earnings report of 2018, it predicted that its revenue growth would slow down through the end of 2019. Shortly after this prediction, Facebook stock plummeted. 
6. Political problems
In August, employees leaked a memo from within Facebook about the lack of political diversity in the company. Then, the ACLU filed a lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming that Facebook’s ad targeting tools favor men over women. The Justice Department decided to support the ACLU in their lawsuit. Another investigation by The New York Times revealed that Facebook attempted to cover up the extent to which it was involved in the Russia scandal. 
7. Original founders of Instagram resign
Instagram’s Founders and CEO announced that they’d be stepping down after Facebook exerted growing influence over the platform they pioneered. The founders of WhatsApp also left Facebook because of conflict with FB leadership regarding user privacy. After he left, Brian Acton, a WhatsApp co-founder, posted “It is time. #deletefacebook” on his Twitter account.
8. Accounts hacked and leaked
In September 2018, 30 Million Facebook accounts were hacked, enabling hackers to act as the owner of the accounts and potentially gain access to third party accounts that used a Facebook login.
9. Lawsuit because of Facebook’s inflated video view metric
Facebook admitted to inflating statistics regarding the viewing of its videos. Brands sued Facebook because they paid for the ad space next to the videos without knowledge of what they were really purchasing.
10. Facebook bug leaks the photos of 6.8 million users
Facebook had a bug in its photo API, which gave 1,500 apps automatic access to user’s photos, regardless of whether they wanted the photos to be shared. It took Facebook over two weeks to fix the problem and the company failed to let anyone know that there was an issue until two months after the problem occurred.
If these scandals aren’t enough to depress you, here’s a fact that will: Mark Zuckerberg promised at the beginning of 2018 that he was going to fix Facebook. Even though Facebook leadership was actively trying to “fix it,” the company was still circling the drain ethically. There has to be an alternative to hold Facebook accountable.
Bad customer service creates opportunity
We live in a world with better products at lower prices because entrepreneurs examined the status quo and realized that someone could do better. The largest taxi companies in the world, Uber and Lyft, don’t own a single cab. The most innovative hotel company, AirBnB, doesn’t own a single hotel room. And, Netflix, a service that provides customers with access to shows and movies, doesn’t stream a single channel. Everyday, entrepreneurs are building better ways to serve customers.
When an entire industry is not being served well, there is opportunity.
As seen through Facebook’s long list of scandals, disruption is already happening, creating opportunity. Now is the time to take action. We’ve designed our platform to not be constrained by a product design that requires us to push ads and violate your privacy. The Jump is a platform designed to promote authentic relationships, not push propaganda.
If you’d like to benefit from the next level service that The Jump provides, then download the free app! Also, be sure to check out our website and YouTube channel to learn more!
