Facebook is letting users know that starting next month, it will take four information areas out of user profiles. These variables include the “Interested in” field, which denotes a user’s sexual orientation, addresses, political opinions, and religious views. The modification will become effective on December 1. An email from a corporate representative to TechCrunch stated that the adjustment was made to make the social network simpler to use.
The spokesperson said in a statement: “We’re deleting a few profile fields: Interested In, Religious Views, Political Views, and Address as part of our efforts to make Facebook easier to explore and use. People who have filled out these fields will receive notices from us informing them that they will be deleted. Anyone’s capacity to post personal information about themselves elsewhere on Facebook is unaffected by this change.
Social media expert Matt Navarra, who tweets screenshots of notices issued to individuals who have certain sections filled out, was the first to notice the change. Users’ additional information, along with the rest of their contact and basic information, will remain on their profiles, according to the message.
Facebook is removing religious views and ‘interested in’ info from profiles from 1 December 2022 pic.twitter.com/SKjSrtwUwm
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) November 16, 2022
Facebook is removing religious views and ‘interested in’ info from profiles from 1 December 2022
Facebook made the decision to remove these particular profile data as part of its efforts to streamline its platform, which at the moment has a number of relatively archaic features. It’s important to note that other big social networks don’t offer the information sections that Facebook has chosen to eliminate. Simple bios are available on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, allowing users to tell a little bit about themselves without disclosing too much personal information like their political or religious beliefs. As privacy violations have come to light, individuals may no longer want to reveal additional information about themselves online. In the past, people might have been interested in filling out their accounts with additional information.
The announcement comes after Meta last week let go of 11,000 employees, or around 13% of its workforce. The layoffs occurred as Meta was going through a difficult period; last month, Meta offered lukewarm guidance for its upcoming fourth-quarter earnings. The layoffs were the largest job reductions in the history of the computer behemoth.
