Facebook is laughing as they take in the cash
Last night I tried explaining Facebook to Justin (the man I’m seeing not my nephew). I repeated what I was told on 9rules, what I read elsewhere and my own experiences. He looked at me patiently waiting for me to get to the good part. He’s heard of it, he’s online, he’s geeky…one would think he would be a good fit. He has zero interest in it and mentioned he has friends on Facebook but he doesn’t have an account. He won’t make one.
On 9rules I asked people to explain Facebook to me. I don’t get the draw “if” you have a blog of some sort. Yes, I understand it makes it easy to keep up with people. I understand because people use their real names the heightened sense of identity is appealing.
But I also see if these people have blogs a simple Google search should bring them up. I also see people complain about not having the traffic numbers they want yet they are giving it away to third party companies. Valleywag summed up what I have been saying for months rather nicely:
When someone “friends” you, they’re subscribing to a stream of your activities, just like they would subscribe to an RSS feed or even a magazine in the mail. They are subscribing to you, the brand. So your friends are your audience because they are entertained by your brand. But they are also still your friends, so they trust your brand. Facebook knows this and that’s why they plan to use your name in association with advertisers.
Essentially, people are building their brand on third party sites, not on their blog…the blog they want people to read, interact on, etc. Allowing their name to be associated with an ad and not getting a dime from it.
And this is where I think the generation gap comes into play. The older you are the odds are in the person’s favor they understand how important their brand is. They worked hard to build their career, reputation (or brand). Jeopardizing their brand can mean the difference between having a roof over their head and the mortgage being paid. The older you are the more responsibility you have. Can’t expect a youthful person to understand what they’ll need to know 10-15 yrs. in advance…that’s not fair is it?
I just logged on Facebook and I am blown away at the astounding amount of personal information people give away: birthdate, employer, location, college, their relationship status and who they are involved with, phone number, email, website, education (current and past), pictures, etc. If criminals were smarter they’d have a field day and the FTC is concerned about online privacy. There is suspicion that, at least in New York, the ads might be illegal.
Another issue that could come up is what sort of consent is required under the law. Facebook, he said, has not explicitly asked users to approve their use in these ads. And the New York State law requires “written consent.”
The user is the one generating the use of the ad and the receiver cannot opt-out from receiving it because they are receiving a notification from a trusted source, a friend. I know, it’s only an ad but again, the older one is the clearer the understanding is that if a company is making money off of them, they want a piece of it. The older one is the more they fight for better wages, better benefits…a better life. It’s a part of growing up and the responsibilities one takes on in life.
Because the blunt honest truth: if your friends are that valuable on Facebook they have the same value on your blog. If you networked amongst yourselves the time you spent having “fun” online could be making you extra money. On your blog when an ad is served you do get a chunk of it, right? With this, you’ll be happily generating ads based on your valuable recommendations , your name and the information you freely gave away, and won’t receive a damn thing.
“Nothing influences a person more than a recommendation from a trusted friend,” Mr. Zuckerberg said.
What will most likely happen?
“It’s unclear that today’s teenagers and twentysomethings will be too upset by this,” said Mr. McGeveran.
Because they don’t know any better. Yet.
This isn’t me being condensing. I’m saying open your eyes (if you chose to) and realize what you’re doing. There isn’t much difference between this and your employer not paying you for the work you do. I’m not necessarily arguing Facebook should give a cut to their users - my point is giving up that information to a third party over and above using it yourself (or keeping it to yourself) in the first place.
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