How Facebook Mastered the Illusion That It’s Free
Armed with an arsenal of psychological tools, Facebook makes users think that not pulling out their wallets equates to zero cost.
Nothing is free. Not even social media. No matter your platform of choice, social media networks cannot survive without a userbase. Some make great efforts to be transparent and build slowly as they stay true to ethical policies. Others amass a stellar financial portfolio on the backs of people like you and me. And they’re so good at it, we have to remind ourselves that we’re paying for these services using a different form of currency: everything about us.
No one monetizes users better than Facebook. Not Snapchat. Not Twitter. Facebook could lose a third of its users tomorrow, and it would still rake in enough cash to remain one of America’s wealthiest companies.
There’s a single, sound reason for this:
Facebook has mastered the illusion that it’s free.
Armed with an arsenal of psychological tools, Facebook makes users think that not pulling out their wallets equates to zero cost. Most people don’t even consider how they’re generating income for the platform. They’re so engrossed with content, they miss Facebook’s entire purpose: making big…
