Zuckerberg has Loyal Friends in India who won't #DeleteFacebook
Indian users are comfortable with sharing personal information and are unaware of the possible scope of misuse of such data, say experts
The global conversation about the Cambridge Analytica and Facebook scandal is about the sanctity of the privacy of users’ data and better data protection laws. The conversation in India though is now dominated by Cambridge Analytica’s alleged links with the Indian National Congress. The tone of the discussions in India, the largest market for Facebook with 250 million users (as per Statista), shows that Zuckerberg has some loyal friends in India.
The #DeleteFacebook movement initiated by Whatsapp co-founder Brian Acton hardly found takers in India. According to data from Meltwater, #DeleteFacebook found 2.3 million mentions on Twitter and only 1,15,000 mentions in India between March 14 and March 28.
Trending themes within the #DeleteFacebook social discussion in India included ‘Congress’ and ‘Rahul Gandhi’ in addition to ‘Cambridge Analytica’ and ‘Mark Zuckerberg.’ Interest in the news development spiked twice. First on March 22 and later on March 27, following the revelations about INC being one of Cambridge Analytica's clients. After studying sentiments surrounding the scandal, Meltwater found that “the Indian public were milder in their emotional response to the scandal than the global average.”
Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar is possibly the only Indian celebrity to have deleted his personal Facebook account following concerns of the security and safety of data shared on the platform. In his announcement on Twitter, Akhtar said that while he is deleting his personal page the “Verified FarhanAkhtarLive page is still active.” This has only come across as a half-hearted attempt at making a statement and his announcement to shut down his page had a negligible impact on his fans.
Responses to Akhtar’s announcement are a true reflection of how Indians treat data misuse and breach of privacy. One user tweeted “who cares.” While another said, “Let’s not overreact". Data shows that Indians have limited concerns over sharing personal information online and trust social media platforms more than their global counterparts.”
As per Connected Life, a global study by Kantar TNS, only 29 per cent of digitally connected Indians claim to be ‘concerned’ about the amount of personal information that companies know about them. The study measured the level of concern people have with the amount of personal information that companies know about them in August 2017. It found that the Indian average is much lower than the global average of 40 per cent. In addition, only 27 per cent digitally connected people in India object to ‘connected devices to monitor my activities if they made my life easier.’ This is much lower than the global average of 43 per cent.
The study found that when it comes to trusting what people see on social media, the level of trust seen for social media in India is higher. Commenting on the findings of the report, Anusheel Shrivastava, Executive Vice President, Kantar IMRB, said that social connectivity has been the driving force behind the digital revolution in India and that the engagement and trust on social platforms continues to be high.
Shrivastava added, “Most Indians are not particularly aware or concerned about their digital privacy yet, which means the balance of responsibility shifts more towards the brands.” Echoing similar sentiments, Saurabh Uboweja, a branding consultant, said, “Indian consumers are unaware of how data can be used or misused. As long as it does not damage them, they would not be highly concerned.” The short-term memory of the consumer also protects brands like Facebook, felt Akshaara Lalwani, Founder & CEO, Communicate India.
Brands who should be the custodians of their consumers are worried about the data breach. But Indian brands say that they will continue to spend on the platform for the time being. Very few bold brands like Mozilla and Sonos have temporarily suspended their spends on Facebook because of the scandal. Harish Bijoor, a marketing consultant, felt that a mass exodus of brands and users is unlikely. “It will happen in an anecdotal manner,” he said.
Therefore, the threat of losing the Indian market would not be a major concern for Mark Zuckerberg, said Uboweja. Bijoor further noted that Facebook will not have any specific message for India unlike the public apology for the UK and US markets because “There is no point causing a further point of negative publicity in a country that may not be all that sensitive to this issue. Why go fan the embers into a blaze, instead of letting it die out naturally?” he said.
The #DeleteFacebook movement initiated by Whatsapp co-founder Brian Acton hardly found takers in India. According to data from Meltwater, #DeleteFacebook found 2.3 million mentions on Twitter and only 1,15,000 mentions in India between March 14 and March 28.
Trending themes within the #DeleteFacebook social discussion in India included ‘Congress’ and ‘Rahul Gandhi’ in addition to ‘Cambridge Analytica’ and ‘Mark Zuckerberg.’ Interest in the news development spiked twice. First on March 22 and later on March 27, following the revelations about INC being one of Cambridge Analytica's clients. After studying sentiments surrounding the scandal, Meltwater found that “the Indian public were milder in their emotional response to the scandal than the global average.”
Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar is possibly the only Indian celebrity to have deleted his personal Facebook account following concerns of the security and safety of data shared on the platform. In his announcement on Twitter, Akhtar said that while he is deleting his personal page the “Verified FarhanAkhtarLive page is still active.” This has only come across as a half-hearted attempt at making a statement and his announcement to shut down his page had a negligible impact on his fans.
Responses to Akhtar’s announcement are a true reflection of how Indians treat data misuse and breach of privacy. One user tweeted “who cares.” While another said, “Let’s not overreact". Data shows that Indians have limited concerns over sharing personal information online and trust social media platforms more than their global counterparts.”
As per Connected Life, a global study by Kantar TNS, only 29 per cent of digitally connected Indians claim to be ‘concerned’ about the amount of personal information that companies know about them. The study measured the level of concern people have with the amount of personal information that companies know about them in August 2017. It found that the Indian average is much lower than the global average of 40 per cent. In addition, only 27 per cent digitally connected people in India object to ‘connected devices to monitor my activities if they made my life easier.’ This is much lower than the global average of 43 per cent.
The study found that when it comes to trusting what people see on social media, the level of trust seen for social media in India is higher. Commenting on the findings of the report, Anusheel Shrivastava, Executive Vice President, Kantar IMRB, said that social connectivity has been the driving force behind the digital revolution in India and that the engagement and trust on social platforms continues to be high.
Shrivastava added, “Most Indians are not particularly aware or concerned about their digital privacy yet, which means the balance of responsibility shifts more towards the brands.” Echoing similar sentiments, Saurabh Uboweja, a branding consultant, said, “Indian consumers are unaware of how data can be used or misused. As long as it does not damage them, they would not be highly concerned.” The short-term memory of the consumer also protects brands like Facebook, felt Akshaara Lalwani, Founder & CEO, Communicate India.
Brands who should be the custodians of their consumers are worried about the data breach. But Indian brands say that they will continue to spend on the platform for the time being. Very few bold brands like Mozilla and Sonos have temporarily suspended their spends on Facebook because of the scandal. Harish Bijoor, a marketing consultant, felt that a mass exodus of brands and users is unlikely. “It will happen in an anecdotal manner,” he said.
Therefore, the threat of losing the Indian market would not be a major concern for Mark Zuckerberg, said Uboweja. Bijoor further noted that Facebook will not have any specific message for India unlike the public apology for the UK and US markets because “There is no point causing a further point of negative publicity in a country that may not be all that sensitive to this issue. Why go fan the embers into a blaze, instead of letting it die out naturally?” he said.
Tags
Social media marketing
Indian national congress
Mark zuckerberg
Privacy
Facebook
Cambridge analytica
