Reading 07: Ads exist for a reason

I think it is incredibly hard to make an argument that companies have no right to gather information and data mine when people are so ready to hand out most of their information. The Atlantic article makes a note of the fact that even though most people are unhappy with their data being collected, they make no effort (or only marginal effort) to curb what they are putting out there. Most of my friends that actively complain about targeted advertising and data sharing still actively use all forms of social media, sign up for retail accounts for access to sales and discounts, and use google chrome as their browser without thinking about it. To be clear, I do all the same, but I don’t feel strongly about my data being shared.

I don’t think that companies have an ethical obligation to avoid buying and selling data on customers in order to better target their customers. Companies are in existence with the primary intention of making money. In order to compete in the market place, companies need to do everything they can to target the right customers with the right products and marketing. I think a company is responsible for using that information exclusively to sell their products or services in a more effective manner and they can’t be doing any harm to the customer. I think a bigger issues for companies nowadays is brought up in the NY Times article about Target. Companies need to walk a line between targeting customers effectively and being overly creepy in their marketing methods. They quote an employee “’even if you’re following the law, you can do things where people get queasy’”

I think privacy is possible if people feel strongly about it. The LinkedIn article claims that people don’t realize that by posting and liking things on Facebook we are releasing information about ourselves to the universe. I think this is completely false. Since I was young I was taught to assume that everything you do online is on there forever and can be seen by anyone. We are taught not to take pictures at parties where there is underage drinking, we shouldn’t post bad language, and we definitely shouldn’t post anything inappropriate or offensive even as a joke. I think that people joining social media and creating accounts on various retailer websites are fully informed that their actions are being watched and their data collected. They are actively choosing to give up their privacy by doing so.

I think that online advertising is definitely tolerable. I like to believe that people should have the self control to ignore ads if they feel so inclined. I do not use ad blockers because a) I have never been bothered enough by ads to even really think about blocking them and b) I sometimes like seeing the ads that have been targeted to me because they open my eyes to items I would like to have that I did not know about. I think it is ethical to use these tools but I think the people using them need to acknowledge the fact that they are forcing the web towards making people pay for online tools. Ads are the singular reason we have the ability to do anything online for free (I suppose there are some people that put free content out just for the heck of it but it is rare).

Ultimately I think that ads exist for a reason and that reason benefits me more than it hurts me. Being able to consumer content for free is definitely worth exposure to online ads.