Over the last decade, few platforms have declined quite as rapidly and visibly as Facebook and Instagram. What used to be apps for catching up with your friends and family are now algorithmic nightmares that constantly interrupt you with suggested content and advertisements that consistently outweigh the content of people
  • Melt@lemm.eeEnglish
    435·
    6 months ago

    it doesn’t make sense, just say they’re exploiting customers. Saying “you are product” just make people take it literally and think Facebook is wrapping people up and selling them whole package, organ and brain included, which is nonsense

    • then_three_more@lemmy.worldEnglish
      181·
      6 months ago

      Only if you don’t think about it.

      First you should stop and think: What is a customer?

      A customer is someone that a company makes money from.

      Then you think: What money have I given Facebook?

      None (or extremely little)

      Then you think: But Facebook makes billions. How do they do this?

      They have loads of very targeted adverts.

      So we who are Facebook’s customers?

      Advertising companies.

      What makes ad space on Facebook valuable?

      Their ability to target those ads to the right people based off of the data they have about them and to get you (the product) to see those ads.

    • Kraiden@kbin.run
      72·
      6 months ago

      They should take it literally, because it is meant literally!

      They’re not exploiting customers, they are exploiting people. Those people are NOT their customers.

      Facebook is literally selling people in data form. Everything you post, everyone you interact with, everything you look at across most of the web (not just facebook.com) is all catalogued and used to create a fingerprint that is a digital representation of you, and that is their product! “Essence of /u/Melt for sale here”

      Their customers are advertisers.

      ETA: Link

    • tootoughtoremember@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      6 months ago

      Saying “you are product” just make people take it literally and think Facebook is wrapping people up and selling them whole package, organ and brain included, which is nonsense

      You’re the only person I’ve ever seen who has taken this expression literally.

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        6 months ago

        Seems like I’ve been seeing more and more comments on Lemmy that are dumb takes like the one above. Makes me wonder if Lemmy is on the radar of more of the bad faith posters sowing division but having no idea how to get through to the demographic here.

    • Steal Wool@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      6 months ago

      Sounds like you’ve been having a lot conversations with 7 year olds, weird.

    • retrieval4558English
      1·
      6 months ago

      Damn metaphors must scare the shit out of you, huh.

      And no I don’t mean you literally defecate at the thought.