"There are a few mentions of Zynga (which we were investors in) in the various article chain which caused me to reflect even more on the 2007 - 2010 time period

"There are a few mentions of Zynga (which we were investors in) in the various article chain which caused me to reflect even more on the 2007 - 2010 time period when free-to-consumer (supported by advertising) was suddenly conflated with freemium (or free trials for enterprise software)." Is that the company that sold "virtual goods" on Facebook. Pay real money to "send" a cartoon image of a brownie to another Facebook user. "What is going on here ("free services") is nothing new. The entire television industry was created on it (broadcast TV was free, supported by advertising, dating back well before I was born.) Nielsen ratings started for radio in the 1940s and TV in the 1950s. The idea of advertisers targeting users of free services based on data is, well, not new. Propaganda is not new either. The etymology of the word from Wikipedia is entertaining in its own right." Questions: What if a user simply wants a method of communicating with a friend, family member or colleague Is that type of communication done via television, radio or propaganda How about telegraph, telephone or internet service What is the "service" Is it entertainment Is it a means of communication between friends, family and colleagues If it is entertainment, then is it dissemination[1] 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16840205 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16840205 Is advertising also dissemination Is communication with friends, family and colleagues different from "dissemination* See [1] Is there any history of surveillance of communication over telegraph, telephone or (until recently) internet service in order to inform advertising