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It precisely describes targeted ads, using user data that's been generated by monitoring their activity to sell something you want to sell them. Advertising is

• mytailorisrich 6y ago
  It is obvious that targeted ads require knowledge (data) about the person. But it does not imply anything sinister despite what you're claiming it does in your comments, again you're picking a worst case. It's like claiming that cars are awful things by claiming that all cars are driven by drunks who end up killing people. If I own an ecommerce marketplace I can look at a customer's previous purchases in order to gain some insights on what might interest them. There is absolutely nothing sinister, unethical, or just wrong about this. This is simply using knowledge about someone gained in a relationship in order to improve your service, again not too different from the knowledge you gain about your friends (or anyone you get to know since my use of the term 'friends' seems to bother you. This is not important to the point), which you use to improve, so to speak, your relationship with them. Of course there is a profit motive, but this is a red herring. A good business profits by actually helping their customers, ie. by providing them with something of value to them.
  • Nursie 6y ago
    I'm sorry, but your view of friendship is really twisted. A profit motive is not a red herring, it's the fundamental difference between a friendly action with the person's interest at heart and a self-interested action with the intent of opening their wallet and helping yourself to the content. That doesn't necessarily make your actions unethical, but they certainly aren't the actions of a friend.
• jan_Inkepa 6y ago
  Many recommendations from friends also don’t have my best interests at heart. Here are reasons friends recommend things in my experience: * They think I’ll like it (A++). * They like it (When their default way of expressing enthusiasm for something is recommending it, one has to learn to not take it so literally. Also, I’m not discounting the opportunity for shared bonding over something that at least one of us enjoys though. Is this category of recommendation a symptom of having a weak theory of mind? I don’t know). * Loyalty (they’ll recommend products by friends/associates/compatriots, irrespective of quality). * Financial kickbacks/business connections. (Still can be useful). * Pyramid schemes (almost no experience with this, thankfully. I guess the same as #4 but also creepier).
  • Nursie 6y ago
    The pyramid thing is creepy, because it seeks to exploit friendship bonds. And usually only for the benefit of the company, the seller most often is being suckered into losing money as well. I wouldn't really consider someone doing your last two things there to be doing something friendly, those are self-interested actions and I would treat them with suspicion. The first three though, sure, those are friendly actions. Their utility is variable, but they aren't motivated by personal profit.
• mrow84 6y ago
  No idea who flagged your next reply but I was going to say that I think the first sentence of it detracted from your otherwise good points in this thread. I have vouched but I doubt it will have any effect, which I think is a shame because it think that, other than that single sentence, your conversation was constructive.
  • Nursie 6y ago
    Thanks. I wasn't trying to be inflammatory, but perhaps I need to moderate my language somewhat.