re: Facebook is a government spying operation

The awesome thing about Facebook is the metadata and analytics.

For example, after the storms last night, if I had a tree company, and I know exactly where the tornadoes touched down, I can pay for a facebook ad that specifically targets:

Zipcode where storm hit
Age 30+
Married
Likes Fox News (probably has money, homeowner)

Run the ad, it will appear in everyone's feed that matches my criteria and my phone will ring off the hook.


Sorting people by their personal preferences and "personal" data to sell directly to customers is Facebook's entire business model.

Facebook users aren't the customers... the users are facebook's product. The 3rd parties are the customers.

None of this is nefarious, not when Obama did it, not when Bannon did it, and not when a local tree guy does it.

When most of the major people behind facebook dont have a facebook themselves and wont allow their family on facebook that says it all.

Just another reason not to get one, and another reason I hope my kids try and stay away from it.

I would imagine a billionaire would have to worry a lot more about hackers trying to hack his computer and get private videos of him in an attempt to extort than a common person

I think people underestimate the value of data and the more information people put out there, the easier target they become. It's one thing to put out there you are a 52 year old white male, but when organizations are able to find out you are a 52 year old white male who is a married conservative Baptist, with 3 children, likes to hunt quail, watch baseball and loves pizza.. You can be specifically targeted.

The 2011 election was the first election in which social media became a tool for campaigning.. And not just in the presidential election. I get ads from local elections. If I want to get a message out, it's not hard to do. Just use google and it allows you to be more specific with your target audience.

The last presidential election, it became a weapon. Both sides probably used the same tactics, but what we should be worried about, as a country, is the 3rd party influence. I will be more specific. The Russians. This might sound like some 2018 version of Red Dawn or something, but the truth is Vladimir Putin sees the US as the enemy. I think you can make an argument we are in the early stages of another cold war, but there is truth in "together we rise, divided we fall" and he knows it (he is a smart politician) so how do you hurt the US? Divide.

I think there were ways in which a 3rd party was targeting our vulnerabilities, which are the things that divide us. Race, religion, political views, etc. And take someone like the made up 52 year old I made up. That 3rd party could target that person and instead of sharing information that a 52 year old conservative white Baptist might be likely to read, they share stories that are likely to get him "worked up".. Make him angry.. Or cause fear.. Because people get out and go vote when they are angry or scared about something.

And while I don't think Trump had anything to do with Russians, I do think Putin rathered see Trump in office than anyone else. The main reason being, he had no experience in running a government and... I think in the back of his mind, he figured that maybe he could manipulate Trump by presenting business offers that would be in his own personal interest, but not in the interest of our country.. And in order to help push things in Putin's favor, they used online tools that allowed them to gather information through social media and use that as a weapon. And it will continue to go until it no longer becomes effective.

When I got something to say... I got something to say...

I didn't say Trump used it as a weapon..

I don't think Mark Zuckerburg would do me like that. We happen to be friends on Facebook.