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Their view: World poverty on the decline

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Capitol Roundup: Pa. Auditor General continues to focus on protecting at-risk children

<p>Karl Marx declared that religion is the opiate of the masses; our modern capitalist may have invented a better one, Facebook.</p><p>Facebook is the world&#8217;s most popular social network with more than 200 million users in the United States and more than 2.27 billion worldwide. Facebook has consistently broken promises about safe guarding its users&#8217; privacy or protecting them from manipulation . <ins>Facebook exploits a vulnerability in human psychology to addict its users. In many ways it&#8217;s ripping apart the social fabric of how society works.</ins></p><p><ins>Initially, Facebook was supposed to be the great hope for democracy. We forget that Facebook was built to answer the question &#8220;How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?&#8221;</ins> Facebook has led to less human interaction, not more. It has suppressed human development, not stimulated it. Consequently, American society has regressed.</p><p>Facebook uses persuasive techniques developed by propagandist and the gambling industry. It combines them with modern technology to maximize its profits while pushing appeals to fear and anger that reinforces filter bubbles and addictive behavior. <ins>Paradoxically Facebook has created tools that have widened social divisions.</ins></p><p>Research shows that social media is making many of us unhappy, jealous and ironically antisocial. When people spend a lot of time passively consuming information, they wind up feeling worse. <ins>Just 1o minutes on Facebook is enough to depress, clicking and liking a multitude of posts and links tend to have a negative effect on mental health. Sadly humans have convinced themselves that Facebook time is a viable alternative to in-person socializing. It&#8217;s the heaviest users who may be in the most danger. Teens may spend up to nine hours perusing the site, resulting in dire consequences.</ins></p><p>Facebook&#8217;s primary business is collecting and selling your personal data. Ninety-eight percent of Facebook&#8217;s revenue comes from advertising, which totaled $39.9 billion in 2017. The addition of the &#8220;like&#8221; button in 2009 revolutionized the company&#8217;s ability to gather personal data information about your preferences that can be sold. The significant danger with giving out personal data is that you&#8217;re opening yourself up to be a target of manipulation.</p><p>Facebook is an Orwellian surveillance machine. It records, tracks and stores every single thing you do. Even the use of certain words is noted and can become valuable currency for advertiser. <ins>For those who buy or otherwise access this information it provides a very comprehensive picture of the individual in question. Facebook has the ability to access your computer or smartphones microphone without your knowledge. By partnering with data brokering companies, Facebook has access to an incredible amount of data that has nothing to do with what you post on line. They have information on your credit card transactions, where you live, where you shop, how your family is spending its time, where you work, what you eat, read, listen to, and much more. Information is also being collected about all other websites you&#8217;re perusing, outside of Facebook&#8217;s platform. This allows Facebook to target specific groups of users to sell their ads.</ins></p><p>In order for Facebook&#8217;s business model to work it has to remain a surveillance machine. In short, it&#8217;s the ultimate advertising tool ever created. The price? Your privacy. The U.S has no laws governing technologies which utilize the kinds of data collection done by Facebook. My advice is to engage in real time face to face relationships that are full and meaningful that will enrich your life the way God intended.</p><p><strong>Bill Sarnak</strong></p><p>Harding</p><style>
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Your view: Facebook an Orwellian surveillance machine