tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-955229912066643523.post5339963143104221711..comments2013-03-20T09:59:02.381+00:00Comments on Hacking the Book: What is the real price of Facebook?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-955229912066643523.post-3022208374042945012012-11-14T21:10:57.123+00:002012-11-14T21:10:57.123+00:00Although Facebook's method of advertising may ...Although Facebook's method of advertising may be part of its problem regarding the company's decreasing financial value, there's a variety of other things contributing towards it. For example, targeted advertising or no, if you have an ad blocker installed and turned on in your browser, the company won't receive the ad revenue you would otherwise be contributing towards. Plenty of other 'free' services on the internet suffer because of ad blockers, especially webcomics and internet celebrities; something convenient for us comes at the cost of someone else's livelihood. I'm not certain that changing its advertising policy and placing more ads on each page would help Facebook very much, because people will continue to find ways around them. Of course, as Oliver said, Facebook's true wealth is not in its finances, but in the sheer amount of personal data it has access to. A more likely method of increasing Facebook's value again would be finding some way of using all this information to its advantage, though how I don't know due to all the legal issues surrounding data protection.<br /><br />In regard to being barred from using social networking sites: while it may be inconvenient for an indefinite length of time, there are other methods of communicating with people, both online and offline. While Facebook and its relatives may be the biggest, most popular methods of social networking, this is likely to eventually run its course. New sites and services will appear for us to use as technology advances and the internet changes - though I imagine issues with data ownership and advertising will be rife amongst these, too.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13821501382142978268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-955229912066643523.post-30440934622603021392012-11-07T22:39:55.842+00:002012-11-07T22:39:55.842+00:00Hopefully, in a year and a half's time we'...Hopefully, in a year and a half's time we'll be able to say Facebook cost us our childhoods, but not our degrees! <br /><br /><br />It's got to be said however that facebook has developed from it's humble social uses to a genuine tool both of academia (how many of our module groups, project teams and societies are now FB based?) and of business. I rely on this website to orchestrate a huge proportion of my social calendar and, thankfully, remind me of all those important anniversaries which are not quite important enough for me to actually remember...<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13688140658366651216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-955229912066643523.post-65172025633965034512012-11-05T14:24:14.193+00:002012-11-05T14:24:14.193+00:00Three main things to think about:
1) When you don...Three main things to think about:<br /><br />1) When you don't pay for a service, you are the product. Facebook has amassed a wealth of information on you: what you like and don't like, who your friends are, and so on. This is the real value, as it allows targeted advertising. No need to bombard everybody with the same adverts, but only those who are likely to respond to it. Much better value for money for advertisers. And you are giving away this valuable data for free.<br /><br />2) Data ownership. If you want to quit Facebook, can you get all your post and photos that are stored there? Can FB do things with your data that you have allowed them to do in the small print of the terms that nobody ever reads? Can you ever delete that embarrassing picture of yourself you posted without thinking when drunk/angry/upset?<br /><br />3) Purpose. Are there other ways to do the same things FB has to offer? Using a variety of other services, such as blogs, twitter, or LInkedIn (which of course has similar issues as FB with regards to the first point!). What happens if FB closes down your account because you do something they don't like? Are there any alternatives, or will you be 'exiled' from society?<br /><br />It's worth keeping these issues in mind when discussing any service provided on the web, especially when it's a free one: someone has to pay for it in the end, and it might be you!Oliver Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15470911924018335990noreply@blogger.com