Facebook is a Choice.

With the intent of a “more open and connected world” and the mission to “give people the power to share,” Facebook was born in February of 2004. Mark Zuckerberg, notorious today, began this company as a simple guy with dreams of engaging just a few hundred people with his new software. Little did he know, the platform he had created would swiftly become one of the wealthiest companies in the world and Zuckerberg himself, one of the wealthiest men. Frontline produced a documentary in October of 2018, The Facebook Dilemma, which explains the company’s growth and shortcomings since its beginning in 2004.

Very quickly after the launch of Facebook, the amount of power contained within the site skyrocketed. People loved this new thing and they loved it fast and with fervor. Because of this instant latch from the public, Facebook’s main concern became figuring out how to get these people to stay, how to entice more people, and simultaneously, make a profit. The like button was introduced in 2009 and became a complete game changer. Now, people could express interest which provided a sense of worth to the public and a sense of what people are attracted to, for the company. Soon, Facebook realized that by noting people’s activity toward certain things, they could specify the content they show. Eventually, this led to the targeting of ads. Facebook kept track of the tendencies and interests of its users and in turn, gave this information to ad companies which then sent out tailored ads that would be right up the ally of its viewer. Suddenly, this platform was a better tool for advertisers than anything that had come before. So this might all sound great: a fast growing company that people love, ad content that we want to see, information that is of interest to us. What more could we want? Privacy.

Behind all of this ad curating are stockpiles of a multitude of people’s information. Facebook tracks and holds data on what we buy, where we shop, where we live, where we drive, whether or not we have children. After storing this, they sell it to ad agencies and all of a sudden, there is profit. Personally, I find many issues with this. First of all, privacy is one of the major ideas that Facebook prides themselves on upholding when in reality, they are trying to emphasize privacy to downplay the amount of information they take. Then, Facebook is not only keeping our data, but selling it to third parties. This puts our safety in danger and begins to manipulate our lives on a scale that most of us can’t understand. The Facebook algorithm is its driving force, its enabler and it’s something that is beyond perception for a good majority of us being taken advantage of by it. Overall, Facebook has built a complex system that lures people in and keeps them wanting more all the while, taking our personal information to make money and captivate us even further.

I believe that upon initiation of Facebook, there was no malintent, but it’s in the progress overtime that they have lost some of my respect. Clearly, some people don’t see this invasion of privacy as an issue, and that’s okay. It’s a matter of opinion. However, some of us do mind when our information is being taken and sold. If even just one person has a problem with this, Facebook should have done something about it in the beginning. They want to please the public, but that stops when it puts their income in danger. Facebook has lost concern for people’s vulnerabilities and are solely focused on user growth and profit generation. 

I am well aware that this may be coming across as aggressive toward the site. I feel it my duty to let you know, I use Facebook almost daily. Why? You might ask. Well, they do a good job of fulfilling their mission to real in the public. I enjoy the app, I engage with it often, and I know that they abuse the information that I give. To me, it was eye-opening to watch this documentary and be enlightened on exactly what is going on behind the scenes. I was aware of it before, and now I feel like I have a better grip on the situation. From this, I have established some plans moving forward. My first goal is to stay aware, I need to keep in mind this newfound knowledge. Additionally, I should be wary of the information that I willingly give away. I should be careful of the ads I interact with and I should be modest when using the platform. Above all, I need to remember that it is my choice to keep engaging with the app and one day, there may be real consequences.