According studies recently done by the Nielsen ratings, social networking sites take up 22.7% of the time we spend on the web. As members of the information age one has to wonder: With all that time spent online connecting with one another how much of our information is exposed? How much information do we really want to be exposed? As social networking sites become increasingly more and more popular, so does the opportunity to make money. One way to do that and how Facebook generally generates money without being overloaded with ads is a course of selected ads by using information one has provided on their profile.So, if you mention in your profile that you are a fan of Adidas or any other sportswear brand, the related ads will appear on the right hand side of the page for companies and websites selling them. Facebook ads are not intrusive and hence people do not get annoyed with them, unlike we do with those super-irritating pop-up ads.Although it seems to be a clever way to approach advertising, one has to wonder if they really want their information getting sent to corporations. According to Tatjana Taraszow, a professor at Cyprus Neuroscience & Technology Institute, "At the same time as adults are concerned about the governmental and corporate invasion of privacy, the teenagers and young freely disclose personal and private information on social networking sites." What seems to be the case is that as kids grow up in this interconnecting world, they seem less and less afraid of the information they are giving out. Studies done by Tatjana Taraszow indicate that and I quote," Are willing to share personal information, that is, real full name, gender, hometown and full date of birth." This information can potentially be used for identification purposes and it's enough information to look up social security numbers. This situation can lead to identity theft and other personal identification victimization. In conclusion, social networking sites are a very useful and effective tool for many aspects of communication, but users need to use more conscious awareness to detect possible dangerous situations they can put themselves into.
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I was reading the part when you said that the ads are more personalized on Facebook so it isn't cluttered and went to check my Facebook. It was interesting because there were some that applied to me directly and some that were so random! That is pretty scary that companies may be able to retrieve our personal information based on what we post and the advertisements that are on Facebook! This was an interesting blog!
ReplyDelete-Rachel Fuller
I have wondered about selective advertisements as well on social networking sites. I too found it interesting that ads appeared on my profile related to my interest. As a teen I recall disclosing information to others such as age, DOB, location, etc. so freely. With the threats of identity theft, nowadays I find myself more careful of what information I send out over the internet. I do, however, have a sense of security when transferring money or purchasing things online with my credit card. I guess in our information and technological age, we have become comfortable with sharing private information freely.
ReplyDeleteCecile Mendez
I think that is very interesting on how facebook uses what we 'like" and dislike" on our page to determine what advertisements should and will be shown. It does get irritating when you are surfing the net and pop-ups keep coming over your page. The way Facebook chooses to do it, makes the facebook user feel at ease, that they are not going to be "harassed" with soo many advertisements. Also, people are starting to allow their personal information to be out in the open. Something as small as your birthday and name could easiily allow for identity theft, and makes it very easy for the hacker.
ReplyDeleteMegan Nash
When we sign up for an account, whether it be social networks like Facebook, or e-mail services such as gmail, hotmail, or yahoo. We give them the right to randomly collect small bits of data. We don't really know about it, because it's often overlooked. They collect this data and our location to better inform us, and make us feel like it's personal. Some don't mind it, and some do. Apple is known for having collected iPhone user's location data, to know what business establishments where around that user to post ads.
ReplyDeleteMarvin Delacruz