Spring Break
The Daily OrangeKeep advertisers out of Facebook formula
By Jett Wells
Posted: 9/17/07, 8:51 PM EST Section: Opinion
Facebook users at Syracuse University have watched their addictive social network evolve from a sleek and young private world for college students to an all-too-viable option for advertisers to probe and analyze targeted consumers and their published personalities.
Creator Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook product were featured in the Aug. 20-27 issue of Newsweek. The story focused on the site's business strategy and how new, older clients are signing up to join the revolution. However, what didn't get as much coverage was the privacy issue at hand, where anyone curious - including advertisers - could peek into the published lives of kids and parents.
"The problem is that Facebook is on the Internet, and it's all too easy to circumvent those and dig up private stuff. This is all too clear from the experience of political offspring who seem engaged in perpetual competition to embarrass their parents," said Steven Levy in his Newsweek story.
Some would argue that users have the ability to apply privacy restrictions, but the two options are to either block everyone or to block no one. Users shouldn't have to block everyone if all they really want to do is keep curious eyes out, including study group agencies.
Ed Russell, director of the SU Ad Club, defends Zuckerberg's freedom to run his own site the way he wants, even though Facebook isn't really his - it belongs to the people who use it.
"Facebook is whatever the owner and its users want it to be," Russell said. "Zuckerberg can decide to let advertisers have whatever degree of access he wants, understanding that users can reject it as a result. It's a delicate dance."
Facebook's latest form allows many of America's leading corporate strategists to analyze consumers like zoo animals. The Web site announced in May that its 2007 platform would include applications run by 70-odd companies like amazon.com, Microsoft and Warner Bros. Records. The applications would draw consumer interest from users within Facebook, allowing them to sample new products to buy in the future.
"Advertisers want to get as close to consumers as they can get to know them and sell to them," Russell explained.
Facebook should not be a battlefield between salespeople and consumers. It's a place to reconnect with peers and meet new people through common interests. This is not a Cineplex, magazine or television where we look for entertainment. Facebook is not entertainment. It's a digital community of people.
Senior public relations major Claire Wysokowski argues that she shouldn't have to worry about being probed by advertisers when all she wants to do is reach out to the friends and the community that Zuckerberg relies on for business.
"You want to go look at pictures, see what your friends did this weekend. … I find it very terrifying that advertisers are watching me," Wysokowski said.
It seems Facebook has lost sight of what it was when it began back in 2004: a simple way for kids and adults to reunite together through the Internet. Privacy restrictions must be updated to a level easy enough to operate and effective enough to keep out prying eyes that aren't out to seek new friends. Facebook thrives by the users it holds and should abide by the wishes of the users - like a democracy.
Jett Wells is a weekly columnist for The Daily Orange. He can be reached at tjwell01@syr.edu.
Creator Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook product were featured in the Aug. 20-27 issue of Newsweek. The story focused on the site's business strategy and how new, older clients are signing up to join the revolution. However, what didn't get as much coverage was the privacy issue at hand, where anyone curious - including advertisers - could peek into the published lives of kids and parents.
"The problem is that Facebook is on the Internet, and it's all too easy to circumvent those and dig up private stuff. This is all too clear from the experience of political offspring who seem engaged in perpetual competition to embarrass their parents," said Steven Levy in his Newsweek story.
Some would argue that users have the ability to apply privacy restrictions, but the two options are to either block everyone or to block no one. Users shouldn't have to block everyone if all they really want to do is keep curious eyes out, including study group agencies.
Ed Russell, director of the SU Ad Club, defends Zuckerberg's freedom to run his own site the way he wants, even though Facebook isn't really his - it belongs to the people who use it.
"Facebook is whatever the owner and its users want it to be," Russell said. "Zuckerberg can decide to let advertisers have whatever degree of access he wants, understanding that users can reject it as a result. It's a delicate dance."
Facebook's latest form allows many of America's leading corporate strategists to analyze consumers like zoo animals. The Web site announced in May that its 2007 platform would include applications run by 70-odd companies like amazon.com, Microsoft and Warner Bros. Records. The applications would draw consumer interest from users within Facebook, allowing them to sample new products to buy in the future.
"Advertisers want to get as close to consumers as they can get to know them and sell to them," Russell explained.
Facebook should not be a battlefield between salespeople and consumers. It's a place to reconnect with peers and meet new people through common interests. This is not a Cineplex, magazine or television where we look for entertainment. Facebook is not entertainment. It's a digital community of people.
Senior public relations major Claire Wysokowski argues that she shouldn't have to worry about being probed by advertisers when all she wants to do is reach out to the friends and the community that Zuckerberg relies on for business.
"You want to go look at pictures, see what your friends did this weekend. … I find it very terrifying that advertisers are watching me," Wysokowski said.
It seems Facebook has lost sight of what it was when it began back in 2004: a simple way for kids and adults to reunite together through the Internet. Privacy restrictions must be updated to a level easy enough to operate and effective enough to keep out prying eyes that aren't out to seek new friends. Facebook thrives by the users it holds and should abide by the wishes of the users - like a democracy.
Jett Wells is a weekly columnist for The Daily Orange. He can be reached at tjwell01@syr.edu.
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