Is It Objectionable for Social Media Companies to Use Your Personal Data for Targeted Advertising?
No. Social media companies should be able to use personal data for targeted advertising. Hang in there — I’m going to explain why.
Utility and Personal Freedom
Targeted advertising is not evil. In fact, I think targeted advertising is net positive. There have been countless times where I’ve discovered my new favorite item through an Instagram ad and jumped on the opportunity to buy it. Without the ads, I’d have never come across it! Better targeted ads mean better discovery, shorter paths to purchase and higher user satisfaction. In utilitarian terms, better ad targeting leads to greater overall user happiness!
Some would argue that this should not come at the expense of personal data. Despite there being an inherent tension between the value of advertising and the ‘giving up’ of personal data, we need to abstract this into the wider question of human freedom — and the capacity of the individual to not be standardized. We would have to consider models beyond current social media and indeed pursue social questions about the relationship between the individual and society. There’s reason to believe that opt-in sharing of personal data in exchange for more personalized recommendations is what it means to be a…
