The meetings this week between Mark Zuckerberg and members of Congress was a joke. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Facebook will not divulge how they do business and members of Congress are clueless about online marketing[/inlinetweet]. The bottom line: Facebook will continue as is, people will not leave the site in droves and advertisers will still beg Facebook to take their money.
Mark Zuckerberg indicated that he would be open to several ideas for regulating the tech industry.[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””] With his now-famous caveat “my team will follow up with you on this” the CEO said he was not opposed to more regulation, but there is a long distance between actually regulating Facebook and just talking.[/inlinetweet]
However, even with all the hours of questions and vague answers one thing is for certain; Facebook is not going to lose a lot of users nor are advertisers going to punish Facebook for past mistakes. Millennial’s, who supposedly want brands to be responsible, are in love with Facebook and they aren’t going to hold them accountable for violating their privacy.
So, in the end, nothing will have changed. Facebook may talk more about privacy and fixing things, but remember this is a company that likes to ship product and fix it later. Millennial’s will continue to use Facebook because they are addicted to the site and because they weren’t taught the power and advantage of face-to-face meetings with friends.
As for Facebook’s management they’re probably laughing all the way to the bank. Ms Sanberg will continue to build her $10 million mansion in the valley while writing books and Zuckerberg will continue to roam campus with his “cool” tee shirt look because Facebook is still using your data to their advantage and there is nothing you’re going to do about it.
