Essay

Facebook is watching you

By Maria Bromley

You have been commoditized. You thought Big Brother was just a book? It is now your reality.

They know where you go, what you do, who your friends are and how you met them. They know your children, where you vacation and your closest subway stop. The government only wishes they had this much information about you. Big Brother is not just a book, it's a Facebook.

First, let me clarify: I'm a big Facebook fan. I check in when I go out, comment on friends' posts and update my status when I think I have something interesting to say. As a blogging, Facebooking writer, I have accepted that my life will be lived quite publicly. But the speed of the transformation of Facebook from a fun, social networking site to an ever-widening net cast over our entire lives is astonishing. The new "Timeline" design feels like an attractive, glossy advertisement for my life. Oh wait, that's exactly what it is.

In the move to go public, Facebook has transformed into a commodity with 845 million captive clients, a potentially huge windfall for advertisers who can target to people who like to ski while wearing Montclair jackets and apres-ski while sipping Veuve Clicquot. But will the Montclair-wearing, Veuve-sipping client be inclined to click on that strategically placed ad to make their next purchase? Or will it annoy them to the point that they give up their membership in this worldwide club of friends that they have developed over the years?

In the age of digital photography I have over 15,000 photos in the hinterlands of my computer. The only albums I have organized are my vacation photos on Facebook. I tried to diversify by moving some of my pictures to a cool app called Instagram. But the Facebook team must have noticed and, in an instant, they shelled out a billion dollars to buy Instagram and keep me in the fold. One billion for a company that has 13 employees, no revenue and 30 million users. I guess I wasn't the only one who liked the app. Facebook continues to weave its web.

As an expatriate, I have gathered a large group of friends from around the world who I keep in touch with on Facebook. I wouldn't know how to reach them otherwise. The 'book's hold on me is pretty secure. So, I may initially ignore the well-placed ads but I'm not likely to leave the fold.

When Facebook goes public, it will create a plethora of millionaires and billionaires cashing in on our cache of information, but whether the post-IPO market supports the valuation of the stock's earning potential depends on you. Will you click on that targeted ad and help generate earnings for the 'book? Or will it all become too Orwellian and cause an exodus to the next great social networking site -- perhaps the revamped MySpace, recently purchased by none other than Justin Timberlake.

Shukan ST: MAY 4, 2012

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