The present model of internet and requirement of data collection machines
Recently, Facebook has been piled up with all the negative comments from normal people to noteworthy celebs. First reason being, a data breach at the Cambridge Analytica. It followed by an investigation of Mark Zuckerberg by Congress. Though, it didn’t affect badly for Facebook
given the reason that most of the senators at Congress barely knew how the internet actually works. In fact, ironically, the investigation video went viral making the senators look imbecile.
As shown by Ashkan Soltani, Chief Technologist of FTC, there was a plethora of data breaches and the responses received subsequently were distressing and castigating the Facebook as its vast user data in tremendous trove is misplaced. Well, I will explain why. In this content, I’d limit myself to the argument that the immense data guzzlers that all high-tech companies have advanced into being an inexorably of how the internet works nowadays. The privacy breach is way beyond the limits of what I have written.
We are guileful in shattering our very own privacy. To use Facebook page, we accede to their unquenchable desire to know every minute detail about us.
I hope you to take a step forward and analyze their objective precisely. Remember, every data they have from you is received legally. However, on some occasions, they have been surreptitiously collecting the data that you obliquely, but not explicitly, consented to share – it’s the Grey area. I ain’t an expert-savvy on privacy and so I know nothing of the data collection which is outright illegal. If you know something about it, do help me out.
Everyone knows that Facebook is a cost-free service. The true quote threw right around (as its cent right) us is, “if you ain’t paying money to it, then you’re their product”. Because it’s a free service. There’s a boundary for it which is monetization. They use it, as advertising makes the mass of revenue generation for it. Remember that the company has begun to connect you with the people you care about, however, that’s not been their motive since lately. The reason being, now they have the investors who are interested in making more and more money year by year.
And while they keep innovating on the product you love, they also care to innovate the product that endorses love; as it’s what keeps ‘em turned on and their machines whirling.
I urge you to put on thinking titfer as I probe into how Facebook is stone-focused in its persistent pursuit of filling the casket. Here, while I speak only of the AdSense platform, you would probably employ it for other features too.
Decrypting the Algorithm
-
Extending the number of Ads distributed relies on:
- Platforms and the number of users on it
- how often these platforms are active with the users
- Ad list and number of products on the platform
- Ad frequency served on these platforms
Thus, Facebook requires bringing new users at a rapid rate to the platforms. To bring people and keep them active, they should come up with the content that’s attractive and entices the audience by delivering a great experience. This includes maintaining the volume between paid content and organic content. I shall give more on it later.
-
Growing cost per Ad
Knowing that their Ad platform is a hot bidding shot or auction model, the cost per Ad reaches sky when there are numerous advertisers flocking towards the platform – which is exactly – the demand and supply equation. It’s quite obvious that Return of Investment (ROI) from this AdSense should be good enough so that it enhances a number of ventures to choose Facebook for advertising.
In order to deliver the expected ROI, the onus is on them to provide you the ads that are relevant and attract you to do something like a Click, watch a video or enquire about it. The prime agenda of Facebook is to provide creative content that does users to spend more time on it (reading or viewing), engage in it, share it and click on it if it’s an Ad.
Gazing at it, we can conclude that Facebook should keep getting better at the content and it’s the North Star of every Facebook marketing manager in a company to increase the response and give dopamine that retrieves people from the platform. Be it senseless scroll down through the news feed or expecting reactions for the photos you upload.
Feeding the Beastie
So, how do you think Facebook decides the content you’re most likely adore to see? It’s by tracking every bit of you, digital as well as physical. Every post you shared, commented on, etc. are analyzed and parsed by an Artificial Intelligence that focuses on knowing you better.
On the platform, Facebook analyses everything about you. What post you’re putting, who are you relating it to, and the status of your mood and host of some other things. These all are related to build and develop your profile. After all, you know, what you say is who you’re. Any content that you’ve shared, commented or liked becomes the personality of your profile. When you go out for dinner with friends and Check-in, you’re informing the Facebook about your activity. Facebook considers you as an interesting personality in a container if you simply have spent an extra second on that content.
Also, Facebook tracks your offline activities on other websites through their Facebook logging such as Facebook widgets and Facebook analytics scripts.
Recently, Ars Technica, an established news website, reported how Facebook has been using the call logs and SMS from the Android smartphones by exploiting the option ‘read contacts’ permissions. Mark Zuckerberg stated that Facebook monitors messenger chats for numerous reasons except for analyzing chats to know the advertising platform for particular users.
Advertiser’s point of view
Having been in the digital market and most importantly on Facebook, the level of targeting possible is unbelievable. Age, gender, location and other demographics are provided to target the people. I would target people in anything with an interest. I could even see the kind of device you used, mobile or desktop and the network you used Wi-Fi or mobile network. It could even segregate and depict citizens and expatriates. I could target each of my content by dividing them on their socio-economic conditions.
Facebook entertained advertisers to reach their target audience that was relevant to their business or domain, thereby enhancing the probability of click-throughs, engagement and eventually conversions. This platform was majorly focused on increasing the ROI. Hence, most of the advertisers invest most of their marketing budget for advertising on Facebook.
Then, who’s to blame?
Now conclusively, we reach the heart of the problem. The route Facebook took to become $450 billion giant is certain. It definitely couldn’t have reached the status it’s rejoicing today if it didn’t feed on your personal data. It required to understand users intimately to build an eloquent platform.
Only after giving away your privacy acquires you the convenience of the price.
We were deceitful in it. We exactly knew what we were into and still did it anyway. To restate, as Cambridge Analytica was a sheer breach of trust, it was bound to occur. Facebook also made blunders with a product, along the way. This issue highlights granting too much platform data to developers of the Facebook app. Back in the years, it made a similar blunder with Farmville, where it allowed users to send several spam messages to the long-lost friends, uncles, and aunties. Regretfully, what’s coming before is that Facebook didn’t care a bit about such useless instances.
We have traded all our data. We should now look on to our habits. Remember, the convenient price comes at the bargain of giving away your privacy. You can try to get outta the grid or surrender to our digital surcharges. A few are trying to solve this issue – Mastodon is an example of it. For now, I haven’t yet got into it, but a scheme to explore on few of them in future and they probably will write upon it down the line sometime later.
Concluding by,
We personally grew up the demon i.e. Facebook. Every one of us directly or indirectly contributed to the success of it. Throughout history, as we’ve been species, we were adept on portraying individually on selfish motives of ours and stimulations to create monsters, whether its dictator or market crashes. Our antecedents would have cursed us on our inability to communicate with one another ineffectively. The irony is that we used the advanced tool for communications, to commit the biggest mistake.
If you liked or agree for what you’ve read, share it across your social channel. I’d welcome your thoughts on this in the comments; connect to me on Twitter, or LinkedIn.
I am working on a few other pieces as well, technical and non-technical stuff. I am also having a look at Google. As it might, like Facebook, will soon exploit our privacy on Google apps and soon dive to become a multi-billion-dollar product. Do follow me on Medium and blogger as well.
Hand presenting laptop
