Poll: Californians Have Increasingly Negative Views About Facebook ... But Still Use It Plenty

A new Change Research poll commissioned by KQED found that nearly half of Californians surveyed earlier this month viewed Facebook more negatively than other tech giants like Google, Amazon, Uber and Lyft.

The online survey, conducted Oct. 15-18,  asked 2,605 Californian primary voters — about two-thirds Democratic and one-third Republican — a range of political and social questions, including how “favorable” they felt about each of the five companies. Nearly half of respondents said they felt either “somewhat unfavorable” or”very unfavorable” about Facebook, a higher percentage than in the previous survey done in September. Just under a quarter of respondents said they viewed the company favorably. The remaining respondents held a neutral position.

By contrast, 31% of respondents viewed Amazon and Google unfavorably.

Since the 2016 election, the Menlo Park-based social media behemoth has been confronted by a host of issues dragging down its public profile, including the Cambridge Analytica scandal that erupted last year and helped further erode the social media company’s trust among users.

In 2016, Facebook sold the British political consulting firm access to the personal data of 87 million of its users on behalf of the Trump for President campaign. That information was subsequently used to place targeted, and often questionably truthful, political ads.

The controversial transaction incited public outrage and spurred more than 250 of Facebook’s own employees to sign a letter opposing the company’s hands-off approach to political activity on the site.

Separately, attorneys general from eight states and the District of Columbia last month launched a formal investigation into the company over anti-competitive practices.

The October survey was conducted before Facebook’s recent moves to improve its image, including pledging $1 billion to address California’s housing crisis and unveiling its latest effort to support factual news consumption through the addition of a “news tab“.

But the poll also took place before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before a congressional committee to defend his flailing plans to roll out a new digital currency, called Libra, next year. Lawmakers, especially Democrats, took turns berating, criticizing and skewering Zuckerberg.

“What the poll clearly shows is that Californians’ opinion about Facebook is heading in the wrong direction,” said Pat Reilly of Change Research, who oversaw the survey.

Nevertheless, use of the platform in California does not appear to be flagging as a result of this negative attention. When respondents were asked how often they use Facebook, 45% said “many times throughout the day,” while another 37% said “a few times per day.”

The same October survey found that a majority of respondents felt relatively neutral about Uber and Lyft, despite the ride-hailing companies’ highly publicized and controversial battle with California lawmakers over gig contract labor.