Electricurrent Blog

Great article on CNN yesterday about the value of Facebook. I particularly appreciated the following quote:

"Most Facebook users probably think they are customers of the site. Think again, Rushkoff says. 'The user's not the customer of Facebook. The user's the product,' he said. 'The customer at Facebook is the people paying Facebook, and who's paying Facebook? Market research firms and advertisers.'"

It seems to me that this is a subtle nuance that many never consider. It's important to realize that in today's economy, we often transact with firms on the basis of us handing them our personal information as payment. Our personal information has become a type of currency.

There are many implications to this truth, but at the very least, let me encourage you all to know that your personal information is valuable and so like any other currency, you need to protect it, use it wisely and don't allow it to be devalued.

Great article on CNN yesterday about the value of Facebook. I particularly appreciated the following quote:

"Most Facebook users probably think they are customers of the site. Think again, Rushkoff says. 'The user's not the customer of Facebook. The user's the product,' he said. 'The customer at Facebook is the people paying Facebook, and who's paying Facebook? Market research firms and advertisers.'"

It seems to me that this is a subtle nuance that many never consider. It's important to realize that in today's economy, we often transact with firms on the basis of us handing them our personal information as payment. Our personal information has become a type of currency.

There are many implications to this truth, but at the very least, let me encourage you all to know that your personal information is valuable and so like any other currency, you need to protect it, use it wisely and don't allow it to be devalued.