Your Working For Facebook For Free

Hey guys, back again for another blog post. This post is about something incredibly disturbing I learned about this week in my social networking class. It should come as no surprise that of all the social networking sites today, Facebook knows the most about you. The funny thing is people WILLINGLY give Facebook pieces of information about themselves, and don't realize that now Facebook owns this information and can do just about anything with it. This even came as a surprise to me when I read this post called "5 Ways Facebook Owns You"

In the article, it explains the story of a young girl who had been the victim of cyber-bullying. She was gang raped at the age of 15, and suffered from extreme depression. Her depression stemmed from leaked photos of her appearing on a dating site ad on Facebook without her consent. Bullied by her peers over the photos on the site, she eventually killed herself.

That unfortunate story is just one way Facebook can utilize your information. According to Facebook's "Statement of Rights and Responsibilities" agreement, Facebook has the right "to use your name, profile picture, content, and information in connection with commercial, sponsored, or related content (such as a brand you like) served or enhanced." In other words, Facebook uses you like a free advocate and spokesperson of certain products, and advertises it to all of your friends on the site. But you knew that already right?

Facebook (along with other sites like Google and telecommunication companies) acts like the black market of data mining, and every company trying to sell you something wants a taste. Facebook finds out what products you buy, where you shop online, and what interests you based on websites you post about or frequently visit, and sells this information to companies that think they have something you may want. Cunning move, Facebook.

All and all, we can't blame Facebook. There just using what you give them. You wouldn't scold a 6  year old for crashing your car if you gave him the keys and told him "Go have fun!" would you? One thing you can do though is limit what they know about you. The less they know, the more you know your not willingly participating to be the face of Cialis. Till next time - Romo