Participatory Culture: If Facebook changed, would our use of it change?

Facebook is one the most popular social networking sites. 

Facebook is one of the most popular social media networks around the world.  It is used as a networking space on the internet to connect friends and family from all over.  You are able to share and "like" things that you see from the web.  This is Facebook as we know it, but Facebook has been criticized before for their unclear privacy policy.  Facebook allows much of its content to be public to different advertisers and companies.  This appeared to make many Facebook users upset, but it is still currently the most popular social network in the United States.  Different blogs and reports have come to light that Facebook and Google have been giving away data information to government agencies.  Although there was bickering, not many people left the network.  I cannot help but ask, how far can Facebook go before we change how we use it?

Are people leaving Facebook?

In Howard Rheingold's Net Smart: How to Thrive Online, he gives an ideology behind a participatory culture and a look into the blogsphere of the internet.  Rheingold says "Facebook's long history of changing the privacy settings for its users and the sensitivity of the information that search engines know about people's search histories are just two examples of specific qualities of technologies that influence the way people use Facebook or search--and effect the consequences of those activities."  Rheingold is arguing that since the public knows about the change in Facebook privacy settings, it will influence them on how they share information.  Although I do believe that the policy changes have influenced the public, I do not think that there has been, nor will be a huge change in how we use it.  Facebook could do almost anything and no one would bat an eyelash.

This is a picture of the messages that users received from Facebook mobile about changing the app.

In September, Facebook had warned users that their messaging system was moving to a completely different app.  I was hesitant to get the app since I didn't have substantial memory left on my phone. Then I heard rumors that the new messenger app will read your texts and give data to advertisers.  I didn't believe it until the day my warnings shut off and messaging was no longer a part of the Facebook app.  I had to choose between downloading the app, or run to a laptop when I was notified that I had a message.  I thought that this was utterly ridiculous of Facebook to want to change when it was fine for years.  I thought I wouldn't be alone in this, until I realized that 325 of my friends had the app.  I was astonished that no one cared.  I was set on not downloading the app.  Upon talking to friends they found it weird as well, but that did not stop them from downloading it and giving the app permission to message their friends.

Snapshot of the Facebook Messenger app's home page on Google Play Store with a recent comment.

Rheingold said that Facebook's policies would have an influence on how we use Facebook and search on the web, but I am positive he didn't mean that they would change the very structure of how users communicate.  Rheingold meant that the users would change how we used Facebook based on the level of privacy and changes that they made.  Based on the number of my Facebook friends who have the app, I would disagree.  In fact, I looked at the app to see how many people have downloaded it and over 10 million users have (see picture).  Facebook pushed the envelope with this big move to multiple accounts and it seems that no one noticed.  I argue, that no matter what privacy policies or structural changes Facebook or any search engine makes, the users will not change how they use them.