With over 350 million users, and regional networks having expanded into the millions, the underlying philosophy of the social networking site Facebook has been greatly marred by the escalating privacy concerns, with users demanding increased protection.

The original Facebook policy of providing people with a wide platform to “meet” electronically has recently seen a change – with Facebook announcing its decision to do away with regional networks - or the location-based grouping of people.

However, with the latest privacy-aimed move by Facebook having evoked a mixed response from users, the social networking site’s founder Mark Zuckerberg has tried to justify the move, in an open letter written on Tuesday. 

Zuckerberg said that the existing privacy model of Facebook is largely based around networks that could include schools and companies. This mode, he elaborated, was perfect when the site was mostly used by students who wanted to share content with their peers.

Noting that nearly 50 percent of present Facebook users are members of regional networks, Zuckerberg added that over time “people also asked us to add networks for companies and regions as well. Today we even have networks for some entire countries, like India and China.”

Further adding that Facebook has grown, Zuckerberg said: “Some of these regional networks now have millions of members and we've concluded that this is no longer the best way for you to control your privacy.”