In the article "How Companies are
Using Your Social Media Data" Leah Betancourt begins by telling the audience that users
have no idea that potentially every comment they have made online are being
added to a large database. Most people's first reaction may be alarm but
honestly, I think people should have figured that out by now. Almost every
commerce side offers suggestions based on your purchases, favorites, and
sometimes even what you viewed earlier that day! Everything we 'touch' in a
digital environment can be recorded and
stored. We volunteer this information the second we click a link.
Problems occur when people forget this
all important rule. In the study "Aliases, creeping and wall
cleaning," Kate Raynes-Goldie includes the quote "Facebook makes
things that should just have happened in passing totally permanent and
public." This is the all important point that people need to understand.
There really isn't online privacy. The article goes on to describe different
methods people use to circumvent the view privacy setting that are put in
place. A Facebook conversation can't be treated the same was as one with
friends in person. You can't take back words once they make them online and
phrases without context are especially dangerous.
Betancourt goes on to say that it
doesn't seem all that scary. Why wouldn't these companies look at public
information and try to profit from it. Seems natural enough to me. I don't mind
if these companies use my facebook to give me ads designed for me specifically.
I'm going to have to see ads regardless so they might as well be about things
that interest me. The problem I have is when she starts to mention how facebook
may affect your credit. She assures us our credit score is safe but specific
offers can be determined by your friends on Facebook. This is where I would
draw the line. Advertising is one thing but my friends should have nothing to
do with any financial decisions in my life.
She says " Do
you know if your Facebook friends have good credit histories? Likely not, but
if you associate with people who are a good credit risk, than you’ll probably
be a good credit risk, according to Sandberg. “The whole idea [is] like follows
like.” Should I start unfriending people with bad credit scores so I'll look
better? This may mark a shift between posting about yourself and posting what you
want companies to think about you. This would defeat the purpose of most blogs
and social networks that focus on expressing one's self. She reiterates is as
tip #2 at the bottom of the page. Eliminate those you don't need. I guess one
option would be to simply eliminate them from your social media connections.
Maybe questionable friends should only be reached by phone or actually in
person. Still this kinda bugs me. Your friends shouldn't be able to influence
your job and certainly not financial offers.
This is especially a concern
because recently I read an article, (sorry I couldn't find a link,) that said
that companies are wary of hiring people without Facebook because it may mean
they are difficult to work with or they lack social skills. Raynes-Goldie also
mentions "Moreover, the choice to use (or
not use) sites like Facebook is often framed as one that is made freely and
without consequence, when in reality there can be a high social cost to
non–participation." So we have to use Social Media but companies will soon prevent us from socializing the way we want. I'm all for specific advertisments and song suggestions but eventually someone is going to take it too far....
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