Social Media is Free! or At Least That’s What You Think
Social media as the modern form of communication gained popularity with people of all age. The ability to connect with anyone around the world at no cost is the main attraction. It made Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook into one of the youngest richest person in the world. How does Zuckerberg make money?
The answer is digital advertisement. Social media company such as Facebook and twitter collect our information and sell to third party advertisers, who then displays ads on our wall and home page.
What is worst is that we don’t even think twice before giving them our information. One can argue that even though they give away their information to these service, it doesn’t mean they have the right to sell it. Actually, they do if it’s mentioned in their terms and condition, which you had agree upon without even reading the first sentence.
In the video above, it was mentioned that you might not be the one clicking on those ads, but since you are connected to so many people on social media any of them could have clicked on the ads. The information that you shared online could reach more people that you could have imagine, whether you like it or not. It also a social fact that you enter all your information when making a social media account. It’s a sad social fact that won’t change in the near future, because the age of the internet and technology will only expand.
As a user, you gained the benefit of connections, communication, stress relieve, and an escape from reality. As a company they gained your information. So next time when you post that angry post about your boss, think of who could see it.
