Facebook Scandals - Millions Log Off Permanently, Stock At 21-Month Low

Facebook is taking a hit both in terms of its stock value and its user base. The string of 2018 scandals has seen millions of users in the US and Western Europe log off permanently. Although the site keeps growing worldwide, advertisers are more interested in seeing the richer west rather than the poorer east grow, and thus the stock is also taking severe hits.

The company lost around 2.8 million US users under 25 last year and 2018 won't be much better. The company’s own official figures show that the number of Europeans logging onto the site every day dropped from 279 to 278 million, while monthly European users fell from 376 to 375m.

<b>Facebook Stock Loses 36%</b>

Facebook stock is at a 21-month low, having lost 36% since hitting a record high of 218.62 on July 25. Advising investors that it had to reset targets for the rest of the year, the stock plunged 19% on 26 July. It has been in the doldrums ever since.

<b>Data scandals</b>

Scandals involving fake news and data leaks mean that the mistrust on Facebook among dropouts is high. People who log off from the site will not be back soon as the platform is losing ground to smaller outlets. In Europe, the number of monthly users for the second quarter in a row dropped by one million, to 375 million.

Related coverage: <a href="https://thegoldwater.com/news/42475-Facebook-Fake-News-Zuckerberg-Sandberg-Deny-Soros-Conspiracy-Claims"> Facebook Fake News - Zuckerberg, Sandberg Deny Soros Conspiracy Claims</a>.

Research agency Newcom conducted a survey of 1175 Europeans. A quarter of the respondents indicated that they have used Facebook less in the past six months. That is significant: Twitter saw a 10 percent user decrease, Snapchat 7 percent, Instagram 10 percent.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">how bad will 2018 be for Facebook stock? <a href="https://t.co/1rBSuFFqyY">pic.twitter.com/1rBSuFFqyY</a></p>&mdash; Jordan &#39;Jaws&#39; Novet (@jordannovet) <a href="https://twitter.com/jordannovet/status/1063123311905763328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2018</a></blockquote>

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More than with other social media platforms, participants indicate that they don’t use the platform anymore because they don’t trust it (35 percent), find that there is too much fake news (28 percent) or do not find the messages they receive reliable (24 percent). These percentages are also lower on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.

<b>Promises, promises</b>

2018 is proving to be a tough year for the billion-dollar company from Silicon Valley. After the Cambridge Analytica scandal (a political consulting firm that abused the Facebook data of some 87 million people) unfolded, CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised to improve. He doubled the number of editors who checked all content, digital detection of fake news and manipulation was improved, privacy settings were made easier.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/AnnieGaus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AnnieGaus</a>: What do management woes, sinking morale mean for Facebook&#39;s stock? <a href="https://t.co/Ts5SXBZPDd">https://t.co/Ts5SXBZPDd</a></p>&mdash; Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimcramer/status/1063448610879225856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2018</a></blockquote>

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But data leaks and fake news persist. Earlier this week it was revealed that Facebook had hired a public relations company to incriminate its competitors using fake news.

Source:

https://www.investors.com/news/technology/facebook-stock-new-york-times/

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