Did #DeleteFacebook Work? How Facebook Recovered From A Data Scandal

The past couple of months have seen public calls for people to remove Facebook from their lives. Tech giants like WhatsApp founder Brian Acton and Tesla CEO Elon Musk joined in on the fun in March in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data-leaking scandal.

Surely the amount of outcry over Mark Zuckerberg’s popular social network would result in some kind of tangible loss, right?

For now, the answer appears to be no. Facebook released its quarterly financials Wednesday, which showed that, at least as far as investor and advertising money is concerned, the company that started in Zuckerberg’s dorm room is on solid ground. Facebook’s first-quarter revenue rose 49 percent, according to Bloomberg.

In a statement, Zuckerberg acknowledged the company’s recent image problems while figuratively laughing all the way to the bank.

“Despite facing important challenges, our community continues to grow,” Zuckerberg posted on his Facebook page. “We are taking a broader view of our responsibility -- to not only give people powerful tools but to make sure these tools are used for good.”

As Bloomberg pointed out, one seemingly minor concern for Facebook is the rate of growth in recent months. In the first quarter, the number of new users rose at a rate just a hair under 13 percent, which is down from the 17 to 18 percent the site experienced last year. However, daily users increased in the U.S. and Canada, the biggest territories for advertising.

Despite privacy concerns, the public appears to still want to use Facebook in some capacity. The site has become a fixture as a communication tool over the years, with a global user base of around 2.2 billion, according to Zuckerberg.

Still, the company is not completely out of the water yet, according to a report from USA Today. The Cambridge Analytica chaos broke shortly before the first quarter ended, so any serious losses might be more accurately reflected in Facebook’s next quarterly report.

Zuckerberg’s statement alluded to the site trying to do better by its users in the future, which was more than just lip service. Facebook has rolled out features that, at least on the surface, aim to slow the spread of “fake news,” for example.

Users in Europe will also see greater privacy protections on Facebook thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation, which becomes enforceable in May. It is not exactly clear just how many of these protections will be extended to users outside of Europe, but there should be at least a few benefits for North Americans on Facebook.