Facebook

[SendDustyIn]

Are you guys pissed off about it? I'm not understanding the outrage. From the day I signed up (with my creighton.edu email), it was obvious that the end goal was to sell my information to advertisers. Why is this now a problem?

[LynchMob]

I think it's a combination of ignorance about the thing you thought was obvious, and shock (some feigned) at the idea that Facebook would knowingly sell a piece of our national soul for a relatively small fee to some alt-right Mercer bots and/or Kremlin operatives.

I think most people can't imagine betraying their country for pocket change, but Facebook and the rest of Silicon Valley would fall over each other to do it any day of the week. People who aren't as familiar with these personal data mining companies masquerading as technology companies often don't understand this.

[blueblood]

A few years ago I thought that we all had the same ads when we surf. I thought that it worked like the newspaper in that websites met with potential advertisers to put their ads on their site. I even asked about it on here. Then the light bulb went off and I was like Ahhhhh I get it now. For me that was maybe 3-5 years ago. I suppose a lot of people never had that light bulb go off and the surprise of it pissed them off. It didn't piss me off but I can see how it would some that think people work hard just so they can have free shit. If you don't like the way Coke tastes, don't drink it.
There is another contingent that feels sites like facebook censors. Which it does. They want it to be fair and nonpolitical. Not possible.

[Easypaddy]

Mark Zuckerberg is such a charismatic, likable, guy.

[Savannah Jay]

Mark Zuckerberg is such a charismatic, likable, guy.

Two thoughts, in addition to the obvious likability:
1. Didn't know he owned a suit; would have loved to see him show up in his gray t shirt or sweatshirt
2. What's with rich guys and shitty barbers? He looks like he uses the same guy as mark davis

[SendDustyIn]

I think it's a combination of ignorance about the thing you thought was obvious, and shock (some feigned) at the idea that Facebook would knowingly sell a piece of our national soul for a relatively small fee to some alt-right Mercer bots and/or Kremlin operatives.

I think most people can't imagine betraying their country for pocket change, but Facebook and the rest of Silicon Valley would fall over each other to do it any day of the week. People who aren't as familiar with these personal data mining companies masquerading as technology companies often don't understand this.

Lolwut? Facebook didn't sell anything in that instance. Some guy made an app, and people willingly gave the OK (via the button that literally says, 'Do you want to give this app access to your account?') to hand over their personal info, and their friends public info, the latter of which is the really bad part. Someone else (Cambridge Analytica, based in Britain) then bought that data and here we are. So yeah, maybe Facebook didn't put enough protections on the data, but neither did the individual users who gave permission to a shady third party to use that data.

A few years ago I thought that we all had the same ads when we surf. I thought that it worked like the newspaper in that websites met with potential advertisers to put their ads on their site. I even asked about it on here. Then the light bulb went off and I was like Ahhhhh I get it now. For me that was maybe 3-5 years ago. I suppose a lot of people never had that light bulb go off and the surprise of it pissed them off. It didn't piss me off but I can see how it would some that think people work hard just so they can have free shit. If you don't like the way Coke tastes, don't drink it.
There is another contingent that feels sites like facebook censors. Which it does. They want it to be fair and nonpolitical. Not possible.

Targeted ads are great. I see more relevant stuff, and less of the stuff I don't care about. It also lowers the cost per, saving the company money in the long run. There are massive industries built on this. It's the real reason that newspapers are dying; digital ads are way more efficient, so that's where all the money is going.

As far as censoring political speech, I would imagine that would be a huge First Amendment issue. While the lawyers the get all that sorted out, there's always the block button.

[blueblood]

If you watch Ted Cruz(I am not a fan) ask questions you will get the point on censorship. Long story short he gave multiple examples of conservative views that were censored. Multiple examples of conservative ads that were taken off. Then he asked Zuck to give some examples of liberal views that had been censored or ads taken off. He said he did not know of any and Zuck said that you have to look at where his company is located. When you are censoring opinions(which they do) it can get real sticky as to what is considered inappropriate. I don't do Facebook but found the debate interesting.
There was one exchange with a strong Dem, he asked Zuck to tell us what hotel he stayed at and hand over all of his texts for the day and what websites he had visited today cause that is what you do to us. Zuck was like aso;ijfajohnguoa uhhhh

[SendDustyIn]

If you watch Ted Cruz(I am not a fan) ask questions you will get the point on censorship. Long story short he gave multiple examples of conservative views that were censored. Multiple examples of conservative ads that were taken off. Then he asked Zuck to give some examples of liberal views that had been censored or ads taken off. He said he did not know of any and Zuck said that you have to look at where his company is located. When you are censoring opinions(which they do) it can get real sticky as to what is considered inappropriate. I don't do Facebook but found the debate interesting.

I didn't watch, because congressional hearings are dumb. You have a bunch of politicians who barely have a cursory knowledge of the topic trying to look like they're "doing something about your problems," when in reality, they barely grasp the issue, and will never come up with a decent solution to the problem.

There was one exchange with a strong Dem, he asked Zuck to tell us what hotel he stayed at and hand over all of his texts for the day and what websites he had visited today cause that is what you do to us. Zuck was like aso;ijfajohnguoa uhhhh

If you want to have some fun, download the Ghostery addon, and see how many trackers are on your favorite websites. If you know code, hit Ctrl-U and try to find them all. Like I said, there's an entire industry dedicated to seeing what you do. Facebook is, by far, not the worst offender.

[KenoshaJay]

About 10 years ago when my sons were in early high school, I read in the NYT that when a person logs onto Facebook from any computer or phone - going forward, Facebook tracks every keystroke, every click on that computer or phone going forward, even if it doesn't involve Facebook. I found this hard to believe. Any validity to this today?

[OmahaBen]

It doesn't track keystrokes. Like most sites, it probably tracks your browsing history. So if you're on a public computer it will track everyone's history until the cookies are cleared.