Invest Intelligence When It Realy Matters
Wall Street, the Media, the CIA and Facebook: Confluence of Fraud, Deceit and Espionage in the Decay of Society (Part 2)
We continue from Part 1
Facebook’s Bait-and-Switch
When Facebook began it didn’t have any advertisements. Similar to most small companies which embrace the capitalist growth model, Facebook changed from serving its users to serving corporations. I argue this was Zuckerberg’s intention from the very beginning. We have seen the same transformation take place (albeit more slowly) with eBay, Yahoo!, YouTube and several other sites.
The strategy used by most websites is to first focus on building a large user base. This is achieved by offering exceptional features or posting original content or some other way to create the perception of value. The intent is to lure users. Once the user base is large, the site owners pull the old bait-and-switch routine as they begin to focus more on the advertisers than the users.
While most people take the bait, rarely do they spot the switch or else realize its full ramifications. Alternatively, they don’t care when these sites realign themselves towards corporate agendas because society has conditioned them against forward-thinking.
Like all social media, Facebook is designed as a Trojan horse. It markets itself as a site for its users. This is specifically why the term social networking is often used by users to reflect the perceived utility of these sites. However, social media has been designed specifically to hook users into a myriad of ads, many of which are disguised. In this manner, it resembles traditional media.
Facebook isn’t merely in the business of selling ad space. It sells targeted ad space based on each user’s profile and pattern of use on the site. The ads are selected and placed in a way to capture the most attention from each individual based on their preferences, behaviors, likes and dislikes.
Corporate America spends nearly $400 billion each year in advertising and marketing, and nearly half of this amount is spent online. With billions of dollars to be made, can you really trust Facebook with your information?
Corporate ad dollars are drawn to social media because ads are linked to the statistics, emotions and behavioral patterns of each user. Ads found on social media are designed to focus on certain aspects of emotional and psychological response and reaction so that subconscious messages are implanted into the mind of the targeted user. This type of advertising is much more manipulative that the Joe Camel category.
While Microsoft and Google surpass the data collection and analysis technologies used by Facebook, the big distinction is that users remain largely anonymous when they use websites and applications run by Microsoft and Google. In contrast, when you use social media, you have no anonymity. That means advertisers can target your thoughts and anticipate your reactions.