Technology Blog

It looks like the beginning of the end for Facebook may finally be near. Last month was not only the first month in years where the social networking giant didn’t enjoy an increase in active users, but actually lost some (7 million according to some sources). While CEO and de facto Princess of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg is quick to assure us that it is perfectly normal for their numbers of users to fluctuate and blame the figures on distorted data from ad companies’ software, Facebook’s refusal to release their own official numbers are definitely not helping in proving their point.

Even if you’re not a member of the small band of resistance that have refused to get a Facebook account, there may be good reason to be excited about an impending collapse of the social networking giant. Last year saw a 12% increase in identity theft cases, much of which was attributed to online scams like spyware and phishing on social networking sites. Facebook, in conjunction with its perpetually mutating privacy settings, has become a breeding ground for not only scammers but even potential burglars.

Even if you are sharp enough to avoid phishing attempts by checking the URL before you enter your login information, you can still be at risk simply because of the information on your page. Even though information obtained online only accounts for about 10% of identity theft cases, a much larger percentage of burglaries are committed with information gained from Facebook profiles. For example, many burglars will create fake accounts and friend you (or simply read your page if you haven’t been keeping up with Mark Zuckerberg’s privacy setting A.D.D.) in order to find out your address, when you work, when you’re going on vacation, etc. Having even the best home alarm system would do virtually nothing to prevent a break-in if the burglar has access to this much information.

If you’re thinking that all of this doesn’t sound too plausible, you should keep in mind that a study done in the UK in 2009 found that out of 200 test subjects, more than 40% accepted a friend request from a person they didn’t know (if you were guessing that that random person was a 21 year old chick, then you are completely correct). So, the question remains: if Facebook’s recent loss of users is a foreshadowing of its impending doom, will we see a coinciding drop in identity theft and burglary rates, or will another social network simply take its place?