Facebook is the closest thing to Big Brother that has ever existed!
FYI - Facebook databases have access to more private info about you and your family than most government or military intelligence agencies like the CIA, MI6, KGB, or CSIS, etc. There are no wire taps or Patriot Act required when you volunteer all of that info willingly! However,
you're definitely not alone in your exposure by a long shot. The total number of users who give up their info is actually larger than the population of most countries including the United States <insert gasp here>.
Is describing you and other Facebook users as "enslaved brains" a little bit exaggerative?
Maybe you find the comparison similar to "The Matrix" movies? Despite some questionable ethics of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (yes, we saw the movie too), and the power that controlling such data represents, there is no reason to assume he's planning any sort of New World Order... at least not just yet! But that doesn't mean there is no validity to the idea of
"enslaved brains" either.
Here is why. There are two vitally important things to Facebook as a corporation:
# of Members
# of Ad Clicks
When we hear about Facebook being worth billions, this valuation is entirely based on the number of Facebook users they recruit, and the amount of ad revenue they can generate as a result. That is what made founder Mark Zuckerberg and his shareholders profoundly wealthy. While his more youthful goals may have been focused around his status at Harvard or his ability to meet hot chicks, his goals today are certainly more corporate focused. That's where we as users come in.
Every time we login we're sharing data. Every time we create an update, video, or photo, we're creating greater potential for ad revenue... all for Facebook. All of your ideas, relationships, personal data, and *time* are being invested into building the wealth and success of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg!
Of course Facebook does add value for us too. It is a great way for us to manage our personal connections and do our own bit of snooping into the finite details of those we "friend". While there are some "Dos and Don'ts" for using Facebook, managing your reputation is too much to
cover here, so we just advise you to "play it safe" and take a thoughtful, commonsense approach for now. We certainly don't want to push you into becoming a wacky conspiracy theorist or convince you to shut down all of your social media accounts. However, we do have one important suggestion particularly for those of you who like to share great ideas!
Fight against Facebook to awaken some of those enslaved brains and lead them back to something that is focused on you!
If you run a business or website or just like to share ideas, you can extract value *from* Facebook to help do something for you. Whatever your objectives are you need eyeballs and attention to make that happen! Facebook has the eyeballs - and you need to get them pointed back at you!
The key is storing your ideas on a website that YOU control - and using Facebook to help gain interest (and hits) from your networked friends - and anyone they share it with afterwards! After all, they are YOUR friends, and their interest was in YOU before they ever attempted to find you on Facebook.
Break free by creating content on your site, and sharing links back to you on Facebook that bring your friends directly to you. If you have a WordPress powered blog, a forum, or some other CMS (short for the geeky sounding "Content Management Software") you can do exactly that! So if you don't know how to set something like that up just yet, that should be next on your to-do list.
Without our ideas, Facebook is just an empty shell of software. We want you to escape from brain enslavement and harvest some of the Facebook users for yourself. That's exactly what we're trying to do with the Viral Age blog! We're sharing our ideas with our friends and connections on Facebook or Twitter, inviting everyone to join in our discussion, and hopefully making new connections in the process.
Note: The graphic above is taken from a presentation by Patrick O'Keefe on the topic of "How to Market Your Stuff to Online Forums and Communities", his key note from PodCamp Topeka 2010. Check it out. Patrick is an expert is building sites, gaining attention, and the dos and don'ts of Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of the social media world. You can see a video of his online marketing keynote here.
