Written Analysis 5

A prime example of values is within the privacy settings of Facebook and the sharing of its user’s information with other internet sites, such as Yahoo! or Google, for marketing purposes. One thing that has created much controversy recently is if I were to ‘like’ an ad, say, for Reebok, on a random site, that information would somehow now be linked to my Facebook without my consent. By way of doing this, Facebook now knows what I like and can tailor their ads and marketing specifically to my profile every time I log-on. In essence, Facebook has now become the ‘big brother’ of the internet world, so to speak. Furthermore, within recent years, Facebook, in my opinion, has become immoral about its so-called privacy settings to assist in ramping up its marketing tactics. I have a private profile, however, what I may think can only be seen by my ‘friends’ on Facebook, may actually be seen by anyone that has internet access just by searching my name (employers can now use this as a hiring tool when interviewing potential candidates, just by Googling a person’s name). Easy fix, right? Just set my settings to disable people that are not on my ‘friends’ list. Sounds simple enough but, unfortunately, Facebook has loopholes where some of my personal information can leak through and it doesn’t seem so simple for someone who is not computer savvy. This value-added business profit for Facebook has resulted in backlash from the internet community because of the lack of social value to its users.  

Lastly, as we often times see, the media is always looking for a story…many times in places where not much of one exists but the news media twists the facts in such a way, or manipulates the headlines just right, to draw the reader’s attention in and, as a result, begins to create the right amount of ‘buzz’ to turn the article into a Breaking News story across the Nation. Facebook, being the instant communication platform that it is, is a breeding ground for these ‘so-called’ breaking news stories. Facebook is a means for individuals to jump on their soap boxes and, as a result, these headlines spread across the Facebook world like wildfire, further creating controversy among the users debating over the stories. For example, in recent ‘news’, Phil from Duck Dynasty was suspended from his A&E television series for his anti-homosexual comments. Subsequently, this created much outrage from the social media community and now there are petitions on Facebook to reverse his suspension, arguing freedom of speech. To bridge the gap here between business values and social values, should Facebook find a way to limit what type of content can be posted on Facebook, or, would that infringe on our freedom of speech, as well?

As demonstrated above, values play a significant role in my popular culture artifact, as Facebook is a constantly evolving platform for social media. Much like artists of today’s pop music (e.g. Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga), the brains behind Facebook are always pushing the envelope with what new use they can have with Facebook. Many times, this has not gone without criticism from its users, as well as reporting media outlets, and, while it is used by millions across the world, it is definitely a ‘love-hate’ relationship.