There is not doubt in anyone's mind that Facebook is revolutionary. The one thing people always tell themselves when discussing Facebook is, "Why didn't I come up with it?". It's a simple concept- social networking. A pure and single online identity that represents you as a person- what you like, your favorite music, who you're dating, and what you've been doing with your life. It was an easy way for college students to connect to each other and stay current with their communities.
Since then, Facebook's creator Mark Zuckerberg has realized the enormous profit capability of the advertising money that could be made from Facebook's huge population of users. Facebook has shifted from being all about the user, to exploiting the user completely. Our status updates, which were once used to communicate emotions, are now targets for stringent ad campaigns by companies targeting specific individuals. For example, a status of "I'm so hungry" would trigger ads for Dominos Pizza, while a "I'm so sad" could trigger an advertisement for depression medication, or local pschychiatrists.
Facebook has one very important thing to keep it going - the main incentive - it's completely free. At least that is what the user thinks. What most people don't realize is that holding all our personal data, pictures, and status updates, especially for 500 million people all around the world, is not cheap. It costs millions of dollars to operate servers and pay people. Because the cost has to be paid for, and the people will most likely not pay, advertising becomes the main source of income. The advertisers target- the users of Facebook. In essence, Mark Zuckerburg has realized that he is in possession of the largest and most in-depth archive of a large population's ideas, thoughts, pictures, videos, and comment- an advertising dream!
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