A few months ago Facebook put the ‘like’ button on steroids. No longer do we only have a ‘thumps up’ available to convey the range of complex emotions we feel. Now, as well as like, we can feel choose from love, haha, yay, wow, sad and angry.
I for one still haven’t strayed from the classic thumbs up, and according to Belgian police, that might be a good thing. Digital Spy have reported that they've released a statement on the new reaction button, accusing Facebook of having an ulterior motive by implementing them.
They say that for Facebook ‘we are also a product’ – 'we' being us, the users – and these reactions ‘help verify the effectiveness of advertisement that are present on your profile’. In other words, by telling Facebook how you feel about certain things at different times of the day, at different points in your week, they're able to produce more targetted advertising with, in theory, higher engagement.
This will then help Facebook find ‘the perfect location, on your profile, allowing it to display content that will arouse your curiosity but also to choose the time you present it.’ Being in a good mood, they say, suggests you’re more open to advertising so they’d be able to sell more advertising space because they know it'll be more successful.
At least, this is what they think. And it does make sense; the more a company knows about their consumer or reader, the more targeted they can be in everything. And targeted advertising means more money.
They conclude that ‘it will be one more reason not to click too fast if you want to preserve your privacy’. Which is a fair point, but lets remember that almost everything we do on the internet attributes to a digital footprint which helps tailor our experience online, and that includes advertising.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.