Tuesday, January 15, 2013

The end of the web as we know it... Maybe.

Nowadays, the usage of web and internet for many users is limited to social media activities.
And sadly, it's not just me talking these are some statistics that prove it:
  • Social apps are particularly popular, with consumers increasing their social app time by 76%, and spending more than seven times more minutes on apps than on mobile web.
  • Social networks still dominate internet usage, with 20% of PC time and 30% of mobile time spent on them: over any other category of site. And Facebook dominates that, with 17% of PC time spent on the site.
  • People aged 25-34 are most likely to use social media in the office, with over half saying they do so.
  • 76% of people felt positive after participating in social networking, and key words used were "connected" and "informed".
  •  Professional benefits were also a consideration, with access to business networks and a person’s number of connections both benefits listed
  • 26% don’t mind being targeted to them based on their profile info.
    Read the Full report by Nielsen Blog.
So, it quite obvious that any change that would occurs on social medias will eventually affect the web, and change it.

For this article, we will be talking Facebook as example.
I know that comments are flooding the blog, but feel free to tell me why do you think people want to advertize on Facebook?
The huge traffic? The abnormal influence over people's lives?
Well yes. But how Facebook got to be so successful? The answer is very clear here; By using your personal data and private information to target you with ads.

I know what you're thinking now, I'd rather get ads that interests me than keep getting ads that I can't relate to in any way.(Don't deny it, statistics shows that 26% of you agree with this saying.)

Well, for these 26% and for others that always felt that Facebook is their home; I'm very sad to announce that someone called Eduardo Ustaran doesn't agree with you.(BTW he's the head of privacy and information at law company Field Fisher Waterhouse. )
The law in question is the draft European Data Protection Regulation that is to be put before the European Parliament.  The legislation would cause havoc for companies that use their users data to sell advertising, so would include Facebook, GMail and others. Read about this law.

So, if the EU voted for the law, there is no question that the web would never be the way it was. For many of you.

What does it mean? 

I'm sorry that you're hearing this from me, but simply, it means that maybe Facebook will lose it's monetizing plan. So, they will probably, consider a new way to monetizing their site that they have never considered before: Charging you to access Facebook. (Yes! You.)

So, after you heard my news, let's make it a first and see some commenting that isn't spamming. I would like to know if you would pay for Facebook.
Would you pay to like? Comment? Share? Reveal you most intimate information?

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