By now we all know that any employer will be Googling and/or Facebooking ( I know I am not the first person to turn Facebook into a verb) our names in order to see what kind of tawdry internet persona we have left for anyone to spy. But businesses are finding ways to be an even more formidable and net-savvy opponent than previously thought.
Mercurynews.com has recently reported that new software is available that will help companies "sift" through social networking sites in order to nab new customers and bombard existing customers with more relevant advertising or asses "problems that need to be fixed." Now, it seems like every day the landscape of the internet is spawning more and more "Big Brothers" a la Orwell's 1984, but this software, which is only in the formative stages, may actually help consumers. The article mentions an example of an airline passenger who tweets about their lost luggage and a customer service rep who reads the tweet and sets off to find the luggage and respond tweets ( I may have made up that phrasing, but I doubt it) that the luggage has been located. Of course, companies are going to report on the silver lining, but does this just equal more invasion?
While seemingly helpful companies like Google often claim that their "tailored" advertising aims to elevate our internet experience, one cannot help but worry about just how invasive all this marketing and advertising will become. While we all want our most intimate partners to know about our daily experiences, both positive and negative, do we really want our banks, supermarkets, internet service providers, cell phone companies, employers, and cable companies know what we really think?
P.S. Image may or may not relate.
Excellent, insightful post, as usual!
ReplyDelete