Has anyone ever thought that, if Facebook was really for free, then how come that in 2008 his inventor, Mark Zuckerberg, was declared the world’s youngest billionaire?
“The Cost of Free” , the BBC documentary presented by Alex Krotoski, reveals that online life in reality is a big trade. The title of the documentary might be oxymoronic, but it is was not chosen randomly. There is the perception that when we go online to look for something on the familiar to everybody ‘search engine machine’ of Google or when we are using Facebook, we are not paying anything. Though what happens in reality is that each time we use the online ‘free’ services, there is something that we are giving away and this is nothing else but personal information. Our personal identity is formed by our online habits and is translated to something that the market is familiar with.
Every user owns a special code which tracks and exposes his interests and desires. This helps companies identify their audiences and the channels that they use inside the cyber space, which helps them come back with more targeted advertisements and influential content. The illusion that online services are free of charge has increased the public’s attachment to these networks; however that curiosity is converted to profit making for these online service providers, since even more companies choose to advertise their products through this online space.
Every user owns a special code which tracks and exposes his interests and desires. This helps companies identify their audiences and the channels that they use inside the cyber space, which helps them come back with more targeted advertisements and influential content. The illusion that online services are free of charge has increased the public’s attachment to these networks; however that curiosity is converted to profit making for these online service providers, since even more companies choose to advertise their products through this online space.
Even if the majority of people becomes aware of that, is it going to stop using online services? I guess not! I think we will continue to reveal our personal preferences with our own consent. Besides, one might think, that this is a fair exchange, isn’t it? These networks allow you to have access in all that useful information fast and just by clicking on your computer, so I guess it seems quite reasonable that there should be something out there for them as well. What we should wonder though is what could the long-term implications of giving away all these data be and for what purpose they could be used in the future. We should start thinking about where the borderline between our personal rights as users and the profit making are and who is the one that is going to set these boundaries.
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| Source of Image: Google |
If you are interested in watching the BBC documentary 'The Cost of Free', you can find it in youtube. Just follow this link for the first part and go on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNAfnfcergc
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