Facebook an online social networking service that is ranked as the most used social networking service by worldwide monthly active users was once used for students to  connect and share with one another. As stated in Ali Deng’s blog topic of ‘Facebook’ posted on Nov 16. Facebook has now turned into a commercialized site allowing advertisers to target users.

I agree with this point because Facebook being a real-name system allows marketers or advertisers to access your information and this is becoming a concern for its users. This is because the website is free to its users, and generates revenue from advertising, such as banner ads. All Facebook requires is that the user is over the age of 13, provides a user’s name and profile picture (if applicable) to be accessible by everyone. Users can control who sees the information they have shared, as well as who can find them in searches, through their privacy settings.

Users feel as if the privacy that Facebook provides is not up to service. Over the course of the years, Facebook has made efforts to reduce the risks of information leak but news of agencies using Facebook as a platform to receive profile information from users to discover who their allies, friends, and colleagues are is a real concern to the public.

Admittedly, Facebook is a convenient tool for people to touch up with their friends, family members and colleagues. Though to minimize the surrounding controversies, it should try to improve its privacy settings for safer and more reliable use.

Reference:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/dengali/2013/11/16/facebook/

https://blogs.ubc.ca/dimu/2013/10/07/twitters-position-of-social-media-pie/