Facebook, revolutionary or just a waste of bandwidth?

Facebook. For some time, it has been in our lives as a way of staying in touch with friends and to socialize. Newspapers, talk shows and baby-boomers tell us that this phenomenon is the most revolutionary social tool of the 21st century. It's on every one's phone or tablet. Work gets delayed because of it, and people tend to miss out on somebody's birthday if they don't have an account. But is it really that revolutionary? Despite a ridiculous large amount of 800.000.000 users, the so called revolution might be in a way other than it's social aspect.

Of course, we can share and post our interests with friends from across the globe. We can look up what events are being held in our hometown, but does that make it a revolutionary social tool? We already did the exact same things before Facebook, it only offers a combined site for these activities. Even if we have this 'portal' for all these social interactions, what is it used for the most?

Often, I find myself browsing on Facebook when I should be studying. I see what my friends are up to, which is nice. I see updates on upcoming movies, games and music I'm interested in, which is also pretty nice. However, this information is probably only ten percent of the messages showing up on the wall. The rest are just pictures of: a) home-made meals, b) Starbucks coffee, or c) people being drunk. Or status updates about, well, nothing. Everybody knows the infamous 'I took a #2, here is a picture, it was a relieve!'. Of course, the last one is pretty hilarious, but does the ability to upload that kind of information make it revolutionary?

There are innovative ways members use Facebook. The recent uprising of students against the government was largely a success because of Facebook. In a matter of moments, a large audience is reached. The same goes for the uprising in the Middle-East. This does not mean however, that Facebook started these collaborations between protesters. It was just a nice, nifty tool to reach a bigger goal. In other words, without Facebook, Twitter would have been used, or E-mail, or paper notes pinned to the wall of the local church. The uprising was just made easier because of Facebook. Still not revolutionary in the way the Ford Model T car was, at the beginning of the 20th century for example.

The revolutionary part of Facebook lies in the fact that it is the perfect tool for marketeers. More specific, it allows for a complete direct marketing approach, something that has been a holy grail for companies. During the rise of the Internet during the 90's, companies saw a potential platform for their advertisement strategy in the form of banners on websites. While it was, and still is, a successful way of advertising, it only benefits products that have a homogeneous target group. That's where Facebook steps in. By 'liking' topics and talking about things that you are interested in, users create a miniature database with their account, so that advertisements on Facebook are personalized to each user. Every action people make on the site are recorded, and used by companies that want to sell you something. This makes the amount of 'clicks' on advertisements a lot higher, and thus more effective.

It is not entirely clear that users of this social network are aware of these underlying business models that make Facebook such a big player. For one, the line between privacy and marketing goals is easily crossed. Especially if people post and share their whole life on-line. Facebook inventor and owner Mark Zuckerberg got a lot of criticism about this way of advertising, for it violated the privacy of its users. This might be a bit exaggerated, for the fact that people choose to make an account on Facebook, and are themselves responsible for what they do with it. Interests and personal information are two different things, and should be posted accordingly. Awareness is key. A great person once said about Facebook: If you’re not paying for it, you’re not the customer. You’re the product being sold.

I would like to conclude this story with my personal thoughts about Facebook. For starters, it is awesome. The world just keeps becoming smaller and smaller. Information reaches us more quicker, and in greater quantities. We can explore and learn about personal interests and share them with friends. Just keep in the back of your mind that this is a business model, and we are the product that is being sold. We have been given a great tool which is, sadly, often abused with nonsense. So, use Facebook wise. Try to make this digital world a better place. Engage in discussions about awesome stuff, add something positive.

Because most of all, we don't want to see pictures of you being drunk. And I'm not interested in the fact if somebody is left or right handed. Or that he thinks Grolsch is better than Heineken, or that FC Twente will become the national champion instead of Ajax, or that somebody's birthday is in the first 10 days of a month, or what kind of browser you are using, or if Facebook has more guys than girls. You get the point.

And especially, I'm really not interested in a picture of your #2. For all you know, you could be de-friended. And you wouldn't want to post those pictures on any wall in real life.