One of the catches with certain services - Google, Facebook and Twitter for example - is that you have to give up something in return to use them. That "something" is then analyzed, repackaged and sold to another company - often, but not always, in the form of advertising. You have become the product rather than the customer. You might argue that it is your information that is the product, but you continually generate it as you work for them in payment - so it is you that is the valued product...
The NY Times has a piece on something that is either clever or nasty depending on your point of view that Facebook does. Recommended reading.
snip
... He found it irresistibly funny and, as one does in this age of instant sharing, he posted the link on Facebook, adding a comment: “For Valentine’s Day. And every day. For the rest of your life.”
Within days, friends of Mr. Bergus started seeing his post among the ads on Facebook pages, with his name and smiling mug shot. Facebook — or rather, one of its algorithms — had seen his post as an endorsement and transformed it into an advertisement, paid for by Amazon.
In Facebook parlance, it was a sponsored story, a potentially lucrative tool that turns a Facebook user’s affinity for something into an ad delivered to his friends.
Amazon is one of many companies that pay Facebook to generate these automated ads when a user clicks to “like” their brands or references them in some other way. Facebook users agree to participate in the ads halfway through the site’s 4,000-word terms of service, which they consent to when they sign up.
He found it irresistibly funny and, as one does in this age of instant sharing, he posted the link on Facebook, adding a comment: “For Valentine’s Day. And every day. For the rest of your life.”
Within days, friends of Mr. Bergus started seeing his post among the ads on Facebook pages, with his name and smiling mug shot. Facebook — or rather, one of its algorithms — had seen his post as an endorsement and transformed it into an advertisement, paid for by Amazon.
In Facebook parlance, it was a sponsored story, a potentially lucrative tool that turns a Facebook user’s affinity for something into an ad delivered to his friends.
Amazon is one of many companies that pay Facebook to generate these automated ads when a user clicks to “like” their brands or references them in some other way. Facebook users agree to participate in the ads halfway through the site’s 4,000-word terms of service, which they consent to when they sign up.
...
But this new twist on advertising has already proved to be tricky. Users do not always realize that the links and “likes” they post on Facebook can be deployed for marketing purposes. And Facebook has already agreed in principle to settle out of court a class-action lawsuit over the practice in California.
Not least, its algorithms lack a sense of humor, which can lead to surprises, as in the case of Mr. Bergus.
“I was mildly annoyed, though not to the point of deleting my Facebook account or throwing a hissy fit,” said Mr. Bergus, 32, a multimedia producer in Iowa City, who wrote about the glitch on his blog. “I know the costs of using Facebook. It does not cost me money. It uses lots of my personal information.”
...
Facebook will be under increasing pressure to generate much more from its product. I suspect we'll see many other interesting schemes - from them, the other social media players and the so-called "free" services.
It is my belief that this break in symmetry where the customer is not the end user creates a less than optimal user experience and potentially some nasty surprises. At this time the whole social part of the net is at a very early stage with Facebook and Twitter and some others having a lot of luck, while hundreds or even thousands of others fail. How we interact is a huge and poorly explored area and I suspect the current winners are far from optimal. While optimal rarely wins early on, I also suspect it is so early and end user love for these services is iffy enough that there is still a good window for new players to emerge to displace them.
note - if you use these services for heaven's sake don't give fully accurate descriptions of things like birthdays, birthplaces and so on ... it is relatively easy to guess social security numbers and access other information with this as a base. Also be alert to the fact that terms of service and privacy settings are in nearly continual change on Facebook - and remember that they are now under serious pressure to turn you into a better money stream if they are to prosper ... to get you to work for them...
a deeper look at the tea party
During today's rowing session part of my audio time shifting was an excellent Christopher Lydon conversion with Vanessa Williamson on Radio Open Source. Vanessa is a grad student at Harvard who spent two years interviewing tea party members... some really excellent insight.
My own notion is fairly similar - this is a generational reaction of older white and socially conservative people to change - the same change that the much younger occupy folks were reacting to and perhaps the beginning of a major generational break in the US.
Vanessa's book is probably worth reading.
audio of the interview is here (39 minute mp3)
15:52 in Current Affairs, General Commentary | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)