By: CARRIE FILIPETTI
Am I the only one who remembers the “No ads, it has to be cool” line in “The Social Network”?
Apparently, facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg thinks that only applies to conventional ads–or his $6.9 billion has him singing a different tune. What is cool, he says, is the kind of marketing where, unbeknownst to (and unauthorized by) you, major corporations have the option of paying facebook to harvest your personal profile pictures and comments for potential new ads.
At midnight on January 25th, Facebook announced the creation of “Sponsored Stories,” a program that has already gone into effect (man, they work fast). According to this new program, any time you use facebook check-ins, “like” a corporation, use an application, or do any of the thousands of things facebook users do on a daily basis, your friends may see a new ad emblazoned with your image, telling them to BUYBUYBUY. Now, facebook developers, in their introductory video to “Sponsored Stories,” argue that this isn’t a program “that’s saying you should buy this thing…it’s your friends saying look I did this, and I want to tell you about it.” The obvious logical dilemma, of course, is that you aren’t actually choosing to to tell them about it — Starbucks is paying facebook to do that for you. Just because I’m in a Starbucks doesn’t mean I agree to being an unpaid corporate promoter.
On a certain level, there is not much expectation of privacy one can reasonably have on the site, which has faced legal battles in the past concerning the level of personal information it voluntarily shares with corporations and ad agencies. But, on another level, there is something ominous about a program that takes your every day decisions — like going to Dunkin’ Donuts — and turns them into paid advertisements. Well, at least facebook is paid. All you get is the — joy? satisfaction? — of knowing that your name, image, and thoughts are all the property of the Mega-Corporation #1; and that facebook is the one reaping the benefits.
The Age of the Corporations has begun.
But if you post that you’re in a Starbucks on your facebook acount, it does mean you agree to be an unpaid corporate promoter. It’s not like they’re reading an RFID chip implanted in your ass without your consent. You’re using their service to tell the world where you are.
The website is not turning every day decisions into profits, nor is Facebook the only one reaping the benefits. You get to use their service, they get to use your content. The only “name, image, and thoughts” that are the property of Mega-Corporation #1 are the ones that you give them. I can’t understand why people think they have any expectation of “privacy” for something they’ve posted in the interwebs.
Facebook is just a new denominator among many in Corporate America “free advertisement strategy.”
We constantly promote companies and brands at no cost. What is even worse is that we pay companies to promote their brands — a win, win situation for the company, but not for the consumer. For instance, think about all the people you see everyday wearing shirts and hoodies that say “GAP” or “AEROPOSTALE” or “Abercrombie and Fitch” or “VIRGINIA” or “UVA.” The list goes on and on.
The University of Virginia charges a ridiculous amount of money for any item of clothing that has the University’s brand on it. In doing so, the University not only makes a profit from the item itself, but from the free promotion that a person gives the University whenever he/she wears the item.
Facebook may have perfected the game, but they certainly did not invent it.