22 September, 2011

Is Facebook "FREE"?

Unless you are living in the dark, you've seen or at least heard that Facebook has made some major changes to it's format this week, and it would appear that most of the FB users not only do not like the changes... they hate them. (Just as a side note: Facebook has announced that this is only the beginning, that there are more major changes coming over the next few days and weeks.) Most people are protesting with comments, pictures that protest or poke fun of the changes, or in extreme cases, by signing off of Facebook for good. Then there are those who actually LIKE the changes. (I don't get it, but some people actually like pain too.) But they are entitled to their opinion, so we are cool... until they start telling me that I have no right to my opinion. Hello? You can voice your opinion, but I cannot voice mine?  Not where I come from. 

What has truly amazed me is the people that keep making comments how those who don't like it need to just shut up because Facebook is a free service? My question to you is, "What planet are you living on?" No, you do not put in your credit card info and pay for the service, but (news flash) Mark Zuckerburg has become insanely wealthy from Facebook. Care to guess how? By selling your information! Everything you put into Facebook... everything, is sifted and gleaned for information that companies and corporations are willing pay top dollar for. Think those games you are playing are free? Think again comrade. Like leaches, they are sucking the information from your Facebook account and using it for profit. Facebook Free? I hardly think so! You and I and millions of other users are making people boatloads of money. I think that gives me the right to tell them what I like and don't like about Facebook. I promise you that if the people, in mass, signed off Facebook for just 48 hours, they would make drastic changes back and beg the users to come back... wooing them with Facebook credits and free games! Trust me, this is how capitalism works. You vote with your dollars... and folks, our "dollars" in this case is simply in being there using Facebook and allowing their computers to glean our information from our accounts. 

No, Facebook is not free. We have paid dearly for the "privilege" to use it.

1 comment:

Dan said...

Great post, good insight!