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New Poll Shows Exodus from Facebook Is Real

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According to a Pew Research Center study, 74 percent of Facebook users have taken steps to limit the social media giant’s role in their life in some way.

More than 40 percent of users between the ages of 18 and 29 claim to have deleted the app entirely from their phones or computers. Others are taking extended breaks, or changing their privacy settings.

Think about that: 40 percent of a relatively young demographic have said goodbye to Facebook.

And why wouldn’t they?

Much of the worry comes from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, with data-conscious users unwilling or unable to trust the social media giant and what it collects from their time online. Others are tired of the infamous Facebook algorithm, the tool the company uses to decide what stories appear in their news feed.

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The algorithm has been accused of actively putting a thumb on the scale ever since Donald Trump won the presidency.

The study also found that roughly 10 percent of the people surveyed downloaded their Facebook data file.

Of those that downloaded their data, 47 percent proceeded to delete the app, appearing to make data downloaders the most likely group to do so.

This isn’t sounding good at all for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Have you left Facebook because of its policies?

Twitter and other social media giants aren’t off the hook, either.

Search engine Google is known to keep tabs on users. It has been accused by Trump and other Republicans of using search results to filter out conservative voices.

YouTube is no better, actively censoring, removing and demonetizing videos. If you’re lucky enough to get an explanation from YouTube for such a move, it can vary from something as vague as “hate speech” to claims of violations of its terms of service.

Even Twitter has problems. Complaints about the verification system are rampant. The elusive “blue check” is given only to “verified” accounts. Many have found that these verified accounts are just as prone to hate speech as those from trolls.

Twitter also recently banned Alex Jones and all InfoWars accounts for violation of its nebulous terms.

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Censorship is real, and it’s coming in the form of Facebook, Twitter and Google.

So what can one person do to combat this?

Well, after seeing the very real repercussions of Zuckerberg’s policies, I left the platform for good. My wife followed shortly after.

And you know what? Life without Zuckerberg is pretty great.

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Jared has written more than 200 articles and assigned hundreds more since he joined The Western Journal in February 2017. He was an infantryman in the Arkansas and Georgia National Guard and is a husband, dad and aspiring farmer.
Jared has written more than 200 articles and assigned hundreds more since he joined The Western Journal in February 2017. He is a husband, dad, and aspiring farmer. He was an infantryman in the Arkansas and Georgia National Guard. If he's not with his wife and son, then he's either shooting guns or working on his motorcycle.
Location
Arkansas
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Military, firearms, history




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