Out of context: Reply #21
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People who have access to what you think about, what you care about and what you do on-line, hold a great deal of power over you.
I don't think that there are dark forces at work, plotting against users. I do think that these companies care more about profit and couldn't really give a fuck about what's beneficial to an individual user. When you're dealing with millions of users, it's natural to view a user as a commodity. If you view your users as a commodity - you work according to incentives and tend to disregard anything that isn't conducive to success.
I think the fact these sites are free is a major challenge - because it removes a basic principle that traditionally works for the benefit of the consumer .. we can no longer vote with our cash - and we can't easily challenge decisions that we're unhappy with because we haven't actually paid for anything. That's not to say we don't pay - our attention makes these companies rich. To think they make money from advertising is far too simplistic. Facebook's value is in its database.
It is a big deal - I reckon anyone who disagrees is naive.