Is Facebook Making Your Site Less Trustworthy?

It’s no secret that some people are uneasy with Facebook’s privacy practices, despite the company revising its policies repeatedly. Netpop has released an interesting study finding that 8 in 10 social media users feel “uneasy” or “ambivalent” about sharing personal information on social media sites.
Here’s the break down (also pictured above):

42% of social media users are “Uneasies” (concerned about privacy)

38% … are “Ambivalents” (uncertain about privacy)

20% … are “Laissez-Faires” (not concerned about privacy)

“Social media is growing in the United States and around the world, prompting Internet users to share an ever-growing amount of personal information,” says Netpop. “Social media platforms are, of course, in the business of making it fun and easy to share more, and do more, with more people. But where does the information go? Who sees it? Who owns it? And how is it used? These questions become increasingly important as social media expand and sites like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin are driven to better leverage (and monetize) our information and social connections.”
“Findings reveal that the vast majority (80 percent) are uncertain or uneasy about the social sites they use,” the firm says. “This is particularly true of Facebook: 85 percent of Facebook users are either uncertain or explicitly concerned. Findings also show that privacy concerns and distrust bear a negative impact on social brands: Users have a significantly lower perception of social brands if they are concerned about privacy or distrust the site to use their information appropriately.”
The study also found that users with privacy concerns rate social sites significantly lower. This is something to think about in all of the Facebook-connectedness of the web today. It’s gotten to the point where it is pretty hard to find a site that doesn’t use some kind of Facebook integration.
The fact is that it is simply to attractive to webmasters to use Facebook for a variety of reasons – engagement and traffic among the top. The study brings up an interesting point of discussion. Are some consumers trusting you less because of your Facebook and other social integration?
I don’t expect the findings will sway too many site-owners away from Facebook integration, but perhaps it does highlight the need for giving consumers different options in terms of how they connect with your site.
Facebook’s own score drops over 100 points in the findings, among those who distrust the social network to use their information appropriately.
Another study released this week, finds that 47% of Facebook users have profanity on their walls.
Now here’s how you can get more Facebook likes, more traffic from Facebook, and more search traffic stemming from Facebook.