Poll of the Day > What are you doing Facebook? :/

(+) Yeah! (+)

What are you doing though?
I like how you just came in my house and took my shit without asking lol.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/5/3/AAfGAbAADmpx.jpg

I have a feeling this is all going to be mandatory and compulsory soon anyway.

They've done that for a while. Even if you don't have an account, pretty much any site with a link to Facebook will send your site usage stats to Facebook for them to compile and use in case you ever do create an account, as well as selling that data to other corporations as they can. This is just when more reminder that when it comes to social media, you are the product.

I just wanna know that they'll use it when Skynet goes live somehow.

adjl posted...

They've done that for a while. Even if you don't have an account, pretty much any site with a link to Facebook will send your site usage stats to Facebook for them to compile and use in case you ever do create an account, as well as selling that data to other corporations as they can.

They've done that almost since the very beginning. It's one of the things people complained about when Facebook first started getting popular, and why more savvy people started trying to find ways to block Facebook's access on other websites.

Not like it even matters at this point though, considering there are dozens (going on hundreds) of different services out there that constantly accumulate and sell every facet of your life on a regular basis, and who do not give a shit about your privacy or consent in any way. Not to mention people willingly carry around phones that all contain GPS data and post tons of details about their personal life on social media all the time. There are no more secrets.

This is the future we've created for ourselves - one in which your entire existence is documented in a digital folder that anyone with enough money can read. We've even passed the point where "going off the grid" is even a viable alternative, because everyone leaves at least some trace now (unless you're planning to fake your own death and live on land you don't own in some third world nation where you grow all your own food and purify your own water without using money or interacting with anyone else in any way). Big Brother is essentially here, and we welcomed him in because he had amusing cat pictures.

Next step is when services use all that data to manipulate the fuck out of you. We're already well on our way via targeted advertising and media recommendations, but the end-goal is one where AIs can predict your behavior and preferences better than you can and then will narrow-cast ads directly to you in ways you don't even realize you're being advertised to.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Next step is when services use all that data to manipulate the f*** out of you. We're already well on our way via targeted advertising and media recommendations, but the end-goal is one where AIs can predict your behavior and preferences better than you can and then will narrow-cast ads directly to you in ways you don't even realize you're being advertised to.

Fortunately, Amazon's plan to ship people things it predicted they would want before they ordered them got enough backlash that they seem to have stepped back from the idea for now.

adjl posted...

Fortunately, Amazon's plan to ship people things it predicted they would want before they ordered them got enough backlash that they seem to have stepped back from the idea for now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeping_normality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door-in-the-face_technique

adjl posted...

Fortunately, Amazon's plan to ship people things it predicted they would want before they ordered them got enough backlash that they seem to have stepped back from the idea for now.

The only way this would work is if Amazon also pays the return shipping fees. Or just give the items away for free.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeping_normality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door-in-the-face_technique

Yep. Hence the "for now." I fully expect something similar to show up again in the not-too-distant future because the ideas of nudging fence-sitters into making purchases and beating out competitors by making the sale before the customer even realizes they want to buy something are too lucrative not to chase.

Revelation34 posted...

The only way this would work is if Amazon also pays the return shipping fees. Or just give the items away for free.

The intent was that they'd pay for returns as needed, but they'd still ultimately be expected to make a significant amount of money from the successful predictions and -perhaps more significant - from the large number of predictions that weren't successful but which the unwilling customer didn't feel motivated enough to return for whatever reason (most likely time, but also possibly guilt over causing it to be thrown out, plus you know Amazon will make it as difficult as they can get away with to request a return).

Personally, I can say that if anything of the sort goes live, I'll be stripping all payment information from my Amazon account and only ever using gift cards and the like to make purchases moving forward (not that I make many Amazon purchases) to prevent such shenanigans, but many will not be so vehemently opposed and Amazon will still make a ton of money off of the idea.

Straughan posted...

I have a feeling this is all going to be mandatory and compulsory soon anyway.

Nope, pretty sure that clashes with EU privacy laws, which is actually a big issue right now from what I remember.