Re:Twitter Announces Fire Hose Marketplace: Up to 10k Keywor...
by slapshot on Monday April 04, 2011 @08:19PM
(#2409160)
> until end users pony up for the service, then they're the product.
Exactly. It should come as no surprise when any free site that accumulates a massive amount of data turns around and starts selling that data -- even if users feel like their privacy is being violated.
Twitter really has nothing to sell but data. Same for Facebook and others. They can sell that data indirectly (by allowing targeted advertising) or directly (by selling massive blocks of data for $0.30 an hour), but nobody should be surprised when it happens; it's all that they have to sell.
Exactly. It should come as no surprise when any free site that accumulates a massive amount of data turns around and starts selling that data -- even if users feel like their privacy is being violated.
Twitter really has nothing to sell but data. Same for Facebook and others. They can sell that data indirectly (by allowing targeted advertising) or directly (by selling massive blocks of data for $0.30 an hour), but nobody should be surprised when it happens; it's all that they have to sell.