After Meta said it would train artificial intelligence on users’ posts and photos, a storm of reactions has hit the world’s largest social medium, Facebook. Among other things, Norway’s most famous AI expert deleted the platform in protest. Meta themselves believe they are doing this in line with European regulations. Nevertheless, the training process has now been put on hold following dialogue with the Data Protection Authority in Ireland. It is still uncertain what will happen next. news’s survey shows that 43 percent of Norwegians have recently considered deleting Facebook, but very few have actually done so. As many as 38 percent decided to keep Facebook after considering deleting it. One of these is Magnus Annweiler who was 15 years old when he created a user, and now he is 32. He wants to delete Facebook because he does not want his data to be sold and used by technology companies, but he finds it difficult to do the. – Facebook is just like snuff. It’s hard to stop sniffing when you’ve been doing it for 17 years, he says. Before, Magnus Annweiler used the Facebook wall to write private messages to friends, but now he uses it almost exclusively for work. Photo: Sahara Muhaisen / news This is news’s survey about Facebook We have asked the question “Have you deleted or considered deleting your Facebook account lately?” There were 1004 people who answered. These are taken from the Norstat panel. Norstat carried out the survey on behalf of news. The sample is representative of Norway’s population at large based on gender, age and residential distribution. Norstat looks to Statistics Norway’s population statistics to ensure that this is the case. It was 49 percent who answered that they did not consider deleting Facebook at all, while 43 percent said that they considered it. Of the 43 per cent, three per cent deleted Facebook, while two per cent tried, but failed for technical reasons. As many as 38 percent said they considered deleting Facebook, but decided not to do it anyway. Addicted to Facebook Annweiler belongs to a generation that grew up with Facebook, and it has become an important part of his life. He is almost dependent on Facebook to remember the birthdays of family and friends. – I don’t remember when an aunt or friend has a birthday, because I’m used to getting a reminder from Facebook to post a congratulation on their wall, he says. If Annweiler deletes Facebook, he also loses Messenger. He won’t, especially since Messenger recently got end-to-end encryption. That is, no third party can access his chats, not even Facebook. But there is one more thing he strictly does not want to lose – that is local events. – I wouldn’t have had a fantastic Saturday if I hadn’t seen on Facebook that there was a plant market in the Botanical Garden, he says. Important for cultural life Annweiler also risks missing out on information and losing an important audience on which his job almost depends. He works with cultural events at SALT in Oslo, which organizes over 700 events a year. – For me to explain about a cool theater project or a jazz concert, Facebook is an incredibly good tool for reaching out to people. A while ago he was at a workshop with several Scandinavian concert scenes. There, the question “If Facebook disappears tomorrow, how will you sell tickets?”, was asked. – There were frighteningly few players who had a plan B, says Annweiler. He became aware of how important it is to have other options such as newsletters, posters or to be visible in the cityscape. – What do you think about the fact that SALT’s cultural events posted on Facebook are dependent on algorithms and user data, which you criticize? – I am aware of the contradiction between my personal view of Meta and the need for user data for advertisements through work. But I only sell experiences and enjoyment of life, I don’t try to push products on people, he says. Magnus Annweiler deleted all private posts from his Facebook profile because he does not want this information to be collected and sold on as user data. The dream of Facebook Taina Bucher is a professor at the University of Oslo. She has written a book about how powerfully Facebook is implemented in our everyday lives. – Facebook has become an infrastructure in our lives. It is a basis for human interaction and communication, she says. But Facebook is not the same as when it started 20 years ago. During these years, social media has become one of the biggest media giants. – They have bought smaller platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram, which have become very large. They have also expanded to become an identity key, where we use the Facebook login for other services online, says Bucher. – We are on Facebook because we always have been. It is a much bigger choice to say goodbye to the safe and familiar, says Taina Bucher. Photo: Hallgeir Aunan / news She is not surprised that many people want to delete Facebook but decide to stay there anyway. – We know very well that the company makes money from our data, but we do not delete the account. It’s like not exercising five times a week, even though we know it’s good for us. She believes many people see the disadvantages, but also the advantages, of Facebook. For example, many people get their news from Facebook instead of newspapers and TV, because the algorithms show what they think we like. – Without algorithms and artificial intelligence, the content would have been more generic. The Facebook feed is designed to be relevant and interesting. At the same time, she believes that many people no longer think Facebook is an interesting social medium. – It is the same reason why it is difficult to delete a Tinder profile. Although it can be tiring and experienced as cynical and meaningless, we always hope that something exciting will happen with the next swipe, says Bucher. Published 19.06.2024, at 19.32
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Almost half of Norwegians have considered deleting Facebook, but only a few have done so
