Here is some background on the Facebook mass psychological testing as being reported recently. The study about the test itself, an interesting take on it by another scientist.
You should not be either shocked, or surprised. Companies in the social media space run an implicit yet often almost silent social compact with you. The social networking or social media company develops, tests and produces a product you want to use.
In order to use it, you have to click through terms of services or terms and conditions. These are lengthy legal documents created by very smart lawyers to basically protect the company from almost anything.
Most people literally never bother to read these "click thrus," and instead just literally do that.
Click thru.
By doing so, one should expect to be spied on by companies and governments alike. One should also expect to be used in a multitude of "experiments," "a/b testing," and "algorithmic adjustments." Expect this daily.
People forget the internet is not theirs. It is actually "domain" of some powerful companies that access our data, b.c we give it up freely.
— Alan W. Silberberg (@IdeaGov) June 29, 2014. @IdeaGov we give it up, yes; but not so sure it is all that "freely" (& even less likely to be "knowingly"). Choice = merely an illusion.
— Adrienne Mead (@AdrienneMeadEsq) June 29, 2014The social compact between you and the big social networking companies is implicit, if mostly silent. We get to use things like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Secret, Whisper, Google, Bing, etc. without paying in hard dollars (usually.) What we pay for it with is the invisible digital currency. That of your life on display for anyone with an algorithm, and a way to analyze that data can easily see. Either use these services and accept that in part or do not use the services. But this is the hard choice we all face, if you ever stop to think about it.
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