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They're not wrong; but the implied alternative argument is that individuals should have a right to privacy, which as a right supersedes the privilege of small b

They're not wrong; but the implied alternative argument is that individuals should have a right to privacy, which as a right supersedes the privilege of small businesses to serve targeted ads. To me that's a lot more compelling than what Facebook is advocating.

pm90 6y ago
That makes sense to me, and I would like it if this was what was being argued, rather than trying to paint the company as evil or hypocritical.
- beagle3 6y ago
  But they are being evil and hypocritical. Facebook does not care about small businesses - so instead of responding to the thin veil of "but think of the small businesses!", people are responding to the underlying concern that Facebook really has - their own welfare (which .. they have described in their quarterly filing to the SEC with estimated loss of revenue)
  - pm90 6y ago
    I don’t necessarily disagree with the characterization per se but I don’t think it makes for a convincing argument to most people who don’t particularly care about morality when dealing with what a corporation does.
    - beagle3 6y ago
      It is up to you what you find convincing or acceptable, but as a strategy I don’t like yours - Facebook can come (and does) come up with bad faith arguments. If you keep responding to them, they waste your energy evaluating and responding to each argument. They have unlimited resources, in comparison. The only reasonable way, in the long term, is to ignore the specifics and address the essence. Some of us have been observing this behavior (with many companies and politicians) for decades, and choose bot to play the game dictated by the other side.
2Gkashmiri 6y ago
Why doesn't a small business owner engage in more direct interaction with his/her customers? Its not like a mom and pop shop is supposed to sell nationwide and all that? Support local artists, give out free stuff to local revievers, join local hobby groups, community groups where a customer is supposed to be and take it from there. Facebook doesn't want a small business to do that, instead dial in a few parameters and call it a day. I would rather do business with a seller who is genuinely interested in selling a good product, provide service, handle issues, instead of the other "hey... you bought a rice cooker yesterday, would you like a juicer? ".

pm90 6y ago

That makes sense to me, and I would like it if this was what was being argued, rather than trying to paint the company as evil or hypocritical.

beagle3 6y ago
But they are being evil and hypocritical. Facebook does not care about small businesses - so instead of responding to the thin veil of "but think of the small businesses!", people are responding to the underlying concern that Facebook really has - their own welfare (which .. they have described in their quarterly filing to the SEC with estimated loss of revenue)
- pm90 6y ago
  I don’t necessarily disagree with the characterization per se but I don’t think it makes for a convincing argument to most people who don’t particularly care about morality when dealing with what a corporation does.
  - beagle3 6y ago
    It is up to you what you find convincing or acceptable, but as a strategy I don’t like yours - Facebook can come (and does) come up with bad faith arguments. If you keep responding to them, they waste your energy evaluating and responding to each argument. They have unlimited resources, in comparison. The only reasonable way, in the long term, is to ignore the specifics and address the essence. Some of us have been observing this behavior (with many companies and politicians) for decades, and choose bot to play the game dictated by the other side.

2Gkashmiri 6y ago

Why doesn't a small business owner engage in more direct interaction with his/her customers? Its not like a mom and pop shop is supposed to sell nationwide and all that? Support local artists, give out free stuff to local revievers, join local hobby groups, community groups where a customer is supposed to be and take it from there. Facebook doesn't want a small business to do that, instead dial in a few parameters and call it a day. I would rather do business with a seller who is genuinely interested in selling a good product, provide service, handle issues, instead of the other "hey... you bought a rice cooker yesterday, would you like a juicer? ".