According to Nick Lang’s ‘The Great Facebook Advertising Conundrum’ on The Daily Banter, once he changed his Facebook status to engaged, he began to notice a drastic change in the advertising around his Facebook account.  Ads for flowers, dresses and just about anything connected to weddings, appeared as if by magic.  However, it certainly wasn’t magic it was the power of the Internet.  More to the point it is exactly what everyone has been talking about over the past months.  It is targeted advertising based on profile information.

He went on to mention that he devoted a class on the subject of targeted marketing and received a mixed reaction.  Obviously there’s the positive view that we will only see ads that are relevant to our lives.  Obviously once that happens we automatically feel that we are being watched.  Our lives intruded upon by the powers that be behind the all knowing, ever growing, knowledge flowing, wisdom sowing Internet.

But backup just a minute.  When you opened a Facebook account, or any other online entity that requested personal information, didn’t you ever stop to think why?  Why did I write my relationship status, my age, what I’m looking for, my birthday, religious views and all the other information I have no objection sharing with the rest of the world.  From a personal point of view, of course it crossed my mind why I was so honest.  I have nothing to hide would be the first answer.  The second is that I’m proud of my lifestyle.  The third is that I had the choice not to answer any of these questions.  And this, is the bottom line.

Where choice is prevalent on any site that asks for information, each person has the right to say no.  If you don’t say no and you give all the details that have been requested then you lose the right to complain at a later date that people are spying on you, or using personal information to manipulate you.  In fact I’d go one step further.  By completing intimate details for an online profile, you’ve opened the door and said “come on in and take a look”.

Eggs is eggs and intrusion is intrusion, but look carefully at how you arrived at that situation before you yell from the top of the trees “Help me I’m being watched”.  It’s the old adage “Be careful what you wish, it just may come true”.