Most Users Staying Loyal To Facebook

Despite Facebook’s recent data issues and a slew of negative press, a new poll shows that most of the social media site’s U.S. users are staying loyal — with some using the site even more now.

Facebook has come under fire for recent data scandals, including one where the data of 87 million of its users may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica. As a result, the company faced pressure from regulators, privacy advocates and shareholders, and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced two days of grilling on Capitol Hill.

But a national online poll by Reuters/Ipsos, conducted April 26-30, found that the site is not suffering any real negative effects in terms of user loyalty, with about half of those polled saying they had not changed the amount that they used the site, and another quarter said they were using it more.

The remaining quarter reported using it less recently, had stopped using it or deleted their account.

Analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities points out that Facebook’s data was used only for political ads and not more nefarious purposes, which most likely had an impact on users’ response to the scandals.

“I have yet to read an article that says a single person has been harmed by the breach,” he said. “Nobody’s outraged on a visceral level.”

According to the poll, 64 percent said they use Facebook at least once a day, down slightly from 68 percent who said so in a similar poll in late March, shortly after Cambridge Analytica’s activity was revealed.

In addition, more Facebook users know how to guard their personal information on the site than users of other social media platforms, with 74 percent reporting they were aware of their current privacy settings, and 78 percent saying they knew how to change them.

However, only 23 percent of Facebook users said they have “total control” over the information they store on the platform, while 49 percent said they have “some control,” and 20 percent said they had “no control.” The remaining 9 percent said they do not know how much control they have.