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Kevin Smith

Professor Campbell

University Writing 1104

November 3, 2018

Identity Theft: Where Do Social Media Information Systems Cross the Line?

Just last week I was scrolling through my Instagram feed when a sponsored

advertisement popped up. The advertisement was for a watch brand called MVMT. I never

researched the watch, or followed any of their social media accounts, but it was brought up in

conversation with my friends and I the night before. Just a coincidence? Maybe not. There are

debates on whether or not the information systems that social media platforms use to gather data

about users are crossing the line, and whether or not this is effective. I will uncover the

advantages to these information systems as well as the disadvantages.

What is behind it?

The information systems and algorithms that social media platforms use, are extremely

complicated. Complicated because humans aren’t exactly sure what they are. They’re in constant

motion of predicting and learning what the market is. They have to know what is in demand and

the supply for certain products. Yet, we mildly understand what they do and how it affects us.

Mostly, their job is to figure out what people are interested in, and market products that align

with the following interests. Often times when a person visits a site, it will ask you if you are

willing to allow “cookies”. Unfortunately, these are not the delicious treats that mom used to

make on Sunday nights. These are little pieces of information that the website gathers when you

click on the link. Companies like Google, Amazon, and Walmart use these “cookies” and “re- Commented [1]: are the cookies linked to social media
pages through email logins or through granted access?
market” them. This means they take this piece of history and distribute it to other sites. If you
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view an item on Amazon, they are allowed to take this “cookie” and distribute an ad for that

same item on your Twitter, or any site that has advertisements. This has proven an effective

marketing tactic that can benefit both the user and the advertiser (Bridge).

How can social media users benefit?

Many young people are on board with the information systems that are in place today.

People ages 15-19 are more susceptible to online advertisements and are more likely to be

convinced that there is a need for a product. We are more likely to be on board with the ads that

are tailored for us because the products are more aligned within our interests (Brave). Generation

Z is the first generation to grow up with modern day technology. It is proven that we are way

more fluent with social media than other generations. Generation Z is proven to desire a smooth

experience when online, so it aligns with our desires to have advertisements that are tailored to Commented [2]: you could try to expand on whether
all ads are linked to you through an algorithm or if
some are random.
us on our social media timelines (Spies-Shapiro).

More and more adults are now using the internet as well as social media. In 2012, 78.1%

of adults in America were actively using the internet (New Media TrendWatch). 68% of

American adults are Facebook users, and roughly three-quarters of these users access Facebook

on a daily basis (Smith & Anderson). With the increasing usage of social media and the internet,

in what ways do users benefit from advertisements? It provides a much easier way for consumers

to discover a need or want. For example, someone may have forgotten they needed a new

bookbag until they see an ad on their Twitter feed. It also provides the consumer with the ability

to interact with a company they enjoy. For instance, I could go leave a nice comment on a tweet

that Vans sent out, and I would most likely get a reply. I could also interact with people that

share my affection for a company through social media. This is attractive to consumers and is Commented [3]: are there any statistics of how
successful these ads are?
something that makes a difference in the online marketplace. Consumers are also taking
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advantage of peer-to-peer social commerce. “As its online, Facebook Marketplace brings more

options to more people, and encourages the reuse or repurpose of used items” (Uzialko). There

are benefits to the information systems that are in place for users, but advertisers reap most of the

benefits.

How do advertisers benefit?

Advertisers have the benefit of being able to use market segmentation. This means a

company can define a certain demographic of people and market their product accordingly. This

being said, social media platforms have made it easier and easier to locate their target market and

sell their product to them. The way advertisers do this is, is they inform companies such as

Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat who they’re looking to market towards. They define

characteristics such as, gender, interests, and activity online. With this information, social media

platforms are able to use the data to their advantage and find their prime market. This largely

benefits businesses because they are able to cut out the wasted money on advertising. Businesses

used to advertise to people that weren’t interested or aware of their product at all, making it

much harder to sell. Now, they can target people who are more prone to be interested in their

product and have prior knowledge of it (Kelley). This greatly improves the online marketing

scene and it is only growing from here.

Advertisers can now connect and interact with customers more than ever before. They are

able to encourage customers to engage on their page, post user generated content, add value to

the lives of customers, and most of all, be easy to find (Chainlink Relationship Marketing).

Sharron Nelson from Digital Doughnut stresses the importance of brand awareness in the

marketplace. She says, “By spending only a few hours per week, over 91% marketers claimed

that their social marketing efforts greatly increased their brand visibility and heightened user
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experience.” (Nelson). All of this has paved a way for businesses to build strong relationships

with customers and elevate their brand to a new height. Online connectivity with customers is

only growing. According to Betsy McLeod of Blue Corona, 94% of United States businesses will

be mobile friendly by 2019.

What drawbacks do social media users experience?

Facebook knows every advertisement you’ve ever clicked on, it can recognize your face,

it has a list of companies that have your contact info, it has your contact list, and it knows every

video or picture you’ve viewed, and where you viewed them (Haselton). For some social media

users, the data that social media platforms have collected about our lives, can be an obstruction

of privacy. And for some, it can be very intrusive in which they collect information.

There have been accusations made towards Facebook, Google, and Twitter for using

smartphone microphones to collect advertising data. According to Sophie Bridge of Terra Ferma

Media, “either algorithms are much more sophisticated than we think, or companies are listening

to our conversations through our mobile microphones”. A former Facebook employee disagrees,

saying that constant audio surveillance would bring in 33 times more data than it already does.

Making it unrealistic because of sheer data storage (Langone). If Facebook can’t process that

much data, then no one can. But what they can do that is more effective than listening to us, is

learning our interests and habits. A software called Alphonso can identify audio signals, meaning Commented [4]: you could add data saying any very
well known companies that use Alphonso to collect
data on people.
it knows what TV show people are watching, places people go, and movies they see. This

information is used to target advertisements towards social media users (Bridge).

My Take

Through all of my hours of research, I have read quite a bit about social media

advertising and the great lengths companies will go to maximize it. I have researched the
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advantages and disadvantages it provides to us, the customers, and the advantages and

disadvantages it provides to the advertiser. I have come to the conclusion that the information

systems and algorithms that social media platforms use are not inherently bad.

The definition of marketing is “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating,

communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients,

partners, and society at large” (ama.org). This being the case, the art of marketing is very simple.

Expose your product to a customer and prove your product has enough value to the customer to

make a transaction. Marketing has just evolved from the times of plastering flyers to street

lamps. Marketers have taken advantage of the internet for their own good and they have every

right to do that.

It is up to them to follow the rules of advertising online and honoring the customers time

and effort. According to the Federal Trade Commission, or the FTC, they issued a report to

congress on the topic of online privacy. “While over 85 percent of all websites collected personal

information from consumers, only 14 percent of the sites in the FTC's random sample of

commercial websites provided any notice to consumers of the personal information they collect

or how they use it” (ftc.gov). Social media marketing is not bad, the algorithms and information

systems are not bad, it is how businesses use them. It is an advertiser’s job to be able to be held

responsible for data collection and housing. It is also their responsibility to use it for good. The

second there are negligent intentions behind information sharing or collecting, is when it crosses

the line. An example of unacceptable information sharing would be selling a customer’s

information to a third-party buyer. Some of the ways that information systems can cross the line

are listening to a user’s conversation and deceiving a customer.

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The machine that is social media and the advertisers that bring the money are just doing
what they know, making money. No harm, no foul. But far too often are these systems crossing
the line and not providing a safe place for social media users to shop.
Commented [5]: I think the whole paper was pretty
good. I think you should try to look for specific popular
brands such as Nike or Starbucks, etc. that use these
forms of advertising tactics. Just to put a name in
peoples minds while reading it.
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Works Cited

“Advertising and Marketing on the Internet: Rules of the Road.” Federal Trade Commission, 19
Mar. 2018, www.ftc.gov [Accessed 1 Nov. 2018].
Ama.org. (2018). Definition of Marketing. [online] Available at:
https://www.ama.org/AboutAMA/Pages/Definition-of-Marketing.aspx [Accessed 5 Nov.
2018].
Barve G, Sood A, Nithya S, Virmani T (2015) Effects of Advertising on Youth (Age Group of
13-19 Years Age). J Mass Communicat Journalism 5:260. doi:10.4172/2165-7912.1000260
[Accessed 3 Nov. 2018].
Bridge, S. (2017). Is social media targeting ads based on our conversations? - Terra Ferma.
[online] Terra Ferma Media. Available at: https://www.terrafermamedia.com/social-media-
ads-conversations/ [Accessed 5 Nov. 2018].
Chainlink Relationship Marketing. (2017). 5 Ways to Better Interact with Customers on Social
Media. [online] Available at: https://chainlinkmarketing.com/interact-customers-social-
media/ [Accessed 3 Nov. 2018].
Haselton, T. (2018). I checked and it turns out Facebook knows a lot about me. [online] CNBC.
Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/27/facebook-knows-a-lot-about-me.html
[Accessed 4 Nov. 2018].
Kelley, K. (2018). Understanding Your Customers: How Demographics and Psychographics
Can Help. [online] Penn State Extension. Available at:
https://extension.psu.edu/understanding-your-customers-how-demographics-and-
psychographics-can-help [Accessed 3 Nov. 2018].
Langone, A. (2018). Here’s How Facebook or Any Other App Could Use Your Phone's
Microphone to Gather Data. [online] Money. Available at:
http://time.com/money/5219041/how-to-turn-off-phone-microphone-facebook-spying/
[Accessed 2 Nov. 2018].
Madden, M. and Zickuhr, K. (2018). 65% of online adults use social networking sites. [online]
Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. Available at:
http://www.pewinternet.org/2011/08/26/65-of-online-adults-use-social-networking-sites/
[Accessed 5 Nov. 2018].
Nelson, S. (2018). 7 reasons why social media marketing is important for your business. [online]
Digital Doughtnut. Available at: https://www.digitaldoughnut.com/articles/2018/february/7-
reasons-why-social-media-marketing-is-important [Accessed 5 Nov. 2018].
Smith, A. and Anderson, M. (2018). Social Media Use 2018: Demographics and Statistics.
[online] Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. Available at:
http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/# [Accessed 4 Nov.
2018].
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Spies Shapiro, Lauren A and Gayla Margolin. “Growing up wired: social networking sites and
adolescent psychosocial development” Clinical child and family psychology review vol.
17,1 (2014): 1-18.[Accessed 3 Nov. 2018].
Uzialko, A. (2018). Shopping on Social Media: The Future of Social Commerce. [online]
Business News Daily. Available at: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6318-future-of-
social-commerce.html [Accessed 2 Nov. 2018].