User concerns about Facebook: Are they important

Previous studies investigated various issues and concerns related to Facebook, but lacks to compare between the importance of these concerns. This study contributes in filling this research gap by (i) consolidating the key issues and concerns and confirming their importance to Facebook users, (ii) examining the relative importance ranking of these issues and concerns, and (iii) answering the question of why people keep using Facebook despite of all the concerns and issues. To fulfil the requirements of the examination, a mixed method research approach was carried out. A Web-based questionnaire was first rolled out on Facebook to solicit the needed responses from its users. The analysis results statistically verified the importance of all the issues and concerns albeit being perceived differently in importance. Privacy concerns were rated the highest among all the issues, whereas issues related to the design aspects were rated the lowest. An open-ended question followed the questionnaire, and the qualitative analysis of its replies confirmed that Facebook is an indispensable global channel of communication that cannot be easily ignored and, with the nonexistence of a better alternative, the benefits of keep using Facebook way overshadow any issues users perceive about it.