3 ms·

I'm not so sure that "users are not their customers". I was thinking about this yesterday when I talked to my father-in-law (probably the only person I know wi

by adriand 17y ago

I'm not so sure that "users are not their customers". I was thinking about this yesterday when I talked to my father-in-law (probably the only person I know without Internet or a computer) about a rapidly growing Facebook group opposed to the suspension of parliament in Canada. He asked me to add him to the list, but I told him he'd have to be on Facebook for that to happen. He replied, "oh, so only customers of Facebook can join?" I thought his use of the word "customers" was odd, because I was thinking that "users" would be more appropriate. But then I got to thinking. Yes, advertisers are clearly customers of Facebook: they pay money in return for a service. But these advertisers wouldn't pay a dime were it not for Facebook's users, who represent to advertisers either existing or potential customers. In that sense, users are very clearly customers, though not necessarily customers of Facebook. However, time is money, and users of Facebook are spending a lot of it on Facebook ("spending time" on Facebook: the connection between time and money is clear). Furthermore, the time they spend on Facebook is crucial to Facebook's ability to attract and retain advertisers. This makes them very much like customers, I think: they are purchasing a service from Facebook with something valuable (their time), and if they did not do so, the company would fail.

fauigerzigerk 17y ago
I don't necessarily disagree with everything you said. What you describe is part of that complex indirection I mentioned. But at the end of the day it's not definitions of "customer" that matter so much as what kinds of incentives this triangle structure comprising service provider, user and advertiser actually provides to each party. (As far as definitions go you could just as well say that users are merchandise in this case) There is clearly a vested interest on the part of service providers to make users hand over control of as much data as possible, no matter if it's good or bad for them. How convenient that all of a sudden society has changed its attitude towards privacy, and users now _want_ service providers to help them share share share everything with everyone else. I wonder where Mr. Zuckerberg's sociological studies may lead us next. Maybe society changes again and users want Facebook to send product recommendations in their name? It's such a hassle to maintain all those friendships manually. Clearly, we need help in feeding our friends with fresh, valuable information every day! How about an automated Friendfeed? ;-)
gnaritas 17y ago
Users aren't the customers, they're the bait; they're what's used to hook paying customers, the advertisers. The only respect Facebook has for their bait is only as much is necessary to keep them on the hook; they aren't worthy of trust and they most certainly tolerate tons of scams on their users as long as they're getting their proper revenue from it.

by adriand 17y ago

fauigerzigerk 17y ago

I don't necessarily disagree with everything you said. What you describe is part of that complex indirection I mentioned. But at the end of the day it's not definitions of "customer" that matter so much as what kinds of incentives this triangle structure comprising service provider, user and advertiser actually provides to each party. (As far as definitions go you could just as well say that users are merchandise in this case) There is clearly a vested interest on the part of service providers to make users hand over control of as much data as possible, no matter if it's good or bad for them. How convenient that all of a sudden society has changed its attitude towards privacy, and users now _want_ service providers to help them share share share everything with everyone else. I wonder where Mr. Zuckerberg's sociological studies may lead us next. Maybe society changes again and users want Facebook to send product recommendations in their name? It's such a hassle to maintain all those friendships manually. Clearly, we need help in feeding our friends with fresh, valuable information every day! How about an automated Friendfeed? ;-)

gnaritas 17y ago

Users aren't the customers, they're the bait; they're what's used to hook paying customers, the advertisers. The only respect Facebook has for their bait is only as much is necessary to keep them on the hook; they aren't worthy of trust and they most certainly tolerate tons of scams on their users as long as they're getting their proper revenue from it.