News Round-up: Facebook Under Fire

Stay tuned for our Monday round-ups of the latest social media news. We will be providing short,  sweet snippets that will help you stay ahead of the ever-changing social media game. Here’s the first in the series… Enjoy.

Last week saw the shock revelation that 8.7% or 83 million Facebook accounts are fake, meaning the 955 million active users would be downgraded  872 million. Of this figure 4.8% are duplicate accounts, 2.4% are misclassified accounts and 1.5% are spam accounts.

Further negative press resulted from claims that online company Limited Run made against the platform. They alleged that bots were responsible for 80 percent of click-throughs from their Facebook adverts. Facebook has been forced to launch an investigation.

But the story doesn’t end here. Limited Run also accused Facebook of trying to charge them for changing their name (formerly known as Limited Pressing). Facebook have since stated it was a ‘miscommunication’ issue but Limited Run has already taken its business elsewhere to rival Twitter.  You can read more here.

This plethora of accusations has further fuelled the fire already burning with regards to the credibility and value of Facebook adverts. Furthemore, the influence of other platforms such as Twitter and Google+ are ever increasing. Facebook still leads with 90% of the 100 major global brands active on its platform, but 70% now present on Google+ and 80% are represented on Twitter. 

These controversies have all accumulated at a difficult time for Facebook, as its share price continues to plummet. Mark Zuckerberg has fallen out of the  top 10 technology billionaires as his personal wealth shrinks by $423 million.

However, amidst all this negative press, a new product has been developed by McAfee which aims to make our Facebook experience one that is increasingly safe and secure. This new product, called ‘Social Protection’ allows Facebook users to control who can and cannot see their photos, also preventing people from downloading pictures by blurring the photos.

Until next week…

Latest Posts

The social media landscape continues to evolve at crazy speeds, with new creative formats and strategies emerging constantly. As we move through 2025, brands are facing both unprecedented opportunities and unique challenges in capturing audience attention. Here’s your comprehensive guide to the latest trends reshaping social media creativity. The Rise…
Read More
Your visual identity is the key to telling your brand’s story on social media. As you already know, on social, you might only have a second or two to make an impression, and that impression often isn’t based on what you say; it’s based on what you look like. That’s…
Read More
Everyone said Threads was just another desperate attempt by Meta to copy Twitter – and, well – they were right. But two years down the line and Threads is slowly building its own case…for itself, and against its rivals X and Bluesky. In July 2023, Threads emerged gaining 2 million…
Read More