Social Media is too Commercialized

Social media is a great tool for students.  It is an excellent way to communicate, collaborate, and find research on important topics.  However, with today’s commercialized social media sites, a lack of privacy and corporate tracking systems, it is not completely safe for young people to be using social media.  Businesses are using websites and applications for profit and do not have the user’s best interest in mind.  In the article by Norm Friesen, he states “Just as commercialism has rendered television beyond the reach of education, commercial pressures threaten to seriously limit the potential of the social Web for education and learning.” I completely agree with his analysis.  From the outside, social media and other applications are useful for communication and information, it has turned into a place filled with advertisements.  I remember when Facebook was not filled with advertisements and it was used mainly for communication and branching out to meet new people.  There is no site where it is not filled with advertisement.

Q1.  How have you seen social media change over the past years in terms of advertisement?

A1: I have seen many social media outlets become less about the user.  Instead, I see side bars on the webpage filled with ads and ‘information’ offering various services.  I do believe that social media has use in education, but we have to be very careful that we are not being shown or taught what advertisers what us to know.

Q2: Do you feel that your privacy is safe on social media?

A2: I feel that I have no privacy online.  Social media platforms are able to track everything that I click and view, so I feel that my every tendencies are being watched and tracked.