Facebook announces an important new feature on the way. Certain personal information can no longer be entered in one’s personal profile. Four fields of information are affected by this update, which aims at a change of course for the social network. The causes? Privacy and the growth of Tik Tok.
The news announced by Matt Navarra has also been officially confirmed by Meta. As of 1 December, there will be a major change affecting Facebook. Some user information will be deleted and it will no longer be possible to include it in one’s personal profile.
Table of Contents
Facebook: the information we will no longer see
Facebook is proceeding with its complex renewal project that started with its entry into the metaverse and the presentation of new technologies for augmented reality. Here, then, is a new addition to Facebook’s transformation project, as we knew it at its birth, to adapt to a series of limitations and user preferences.
The novelty is already reaching, via a notification sent directly by Facebook, users who had previously filled in this information on their personal profile. As of 1 December, the following four specific information fields will no longer be available on the personal profile of Facebook members:
- political opinions;
- religious orientations;
- sexual orientation;
- private address.
Once the spaces dedicated precisely to entering this information have been removed, users will still be able to proceed, if they wish, with the communication of these private aspects through the other spaces and methods made available by the social platform.
The usability of the social platform will remain unchanged. But each personal profile will tell something less about the person registered on the social platform.
The reasons: privacy and the growth of Tik Tok
What may seem to be a simple change of little importance is actually a major innovation if we take into account two aspects that increasingly curb Facebook’s freedom of action. And that cannot be ignored for the survival of the social network itself.
Firstly, the privacy of users is becoming more and more of a sticking point with which Facebook has been forced to contend for years now. The possibility of identifying individuals will thus be more limited, safeguarding strictly personal information.
A second influential factor is the threatening growth of competing social networks such as Tik Tok. The nature of the latter could be described as content-oriented. That of Facebook, on the other hand, is in principle more oriented towards personal relationships. However, the new generations and new lifestyles are showing a greater preference for quick, immediate content and videos. It is in this context that we see the necessary change of course that Facebook has decided to undertake. This, in order not to remain excluded from the market.
In short, a very complicated period for Facebook, which, among other news, has also recently announced the dismissal of thousands of employees in Meta.
