Discussions about the pros and cons of Social Media are endless. Connecting is certainly a pro. Exposure can be the downside. Both get mixed continuously and the boundaries are hard to define. Many companies are working on the advantages of a higher connected media. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Bing just stated that they would be working with Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) for an easier link between the different data. These are the ‘good uses’ we can give to social media. We sacrifice a bit of privacy, but earn some comfort. The ‘bad uses’ of social media, however, are still on the rise. A group of different investigations state that the number of slurs, offensive images and mean-spirited videos in Facebook and Twitter keeps growing.
Facebook, Amazon and Bing: Let’s All Share Data!
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) says it will ‘soon’ give customers more product information that stems from shoppers’s Facebook connections. Amazon shoppers already have the ability to voluntarily connect their Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) accounts to their Facebook accounts, but now, Amazon will pull data from Facebook and publicly use that information on its website. Customers with Facebook-connected accounts will see their friend’s product reviews and Wish Lists. Wish Lists can be marked private, but Amazon’s default setting for Wish Lists is public an viewable by anyone. This will certainly help us get the perfect birthday present, but once again, what about privacy?
And the same goes with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Bing. Bing Webmaster Tools is introducing Connected Pages, a new feature that lets companies link their social media data to Bing’s interface. Here, Facebook won’t the only source. Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) and Instagram, among on others, are also part of the project.
“Ever wonder which keywords are sending traffic to your official Facebook page? Curious to know who’s linking to your Twitter page? Well, now you’ll know” Duane Forrester, senior product manager at Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Bing, stated.
This is certainly very useful for companies, which will now be able to collect data on social media accounts associated with a company, and it’s a boon for social marketers. But once again, it’s a confirmation that it’s hard to keep it private online.
Meanwhile, All Kind of Aggressions Keep Flowing
In this world of sharing, hostilities reign. Especially, amid users that have between 14 and 24 years old. In poll from The Associated Press it was stated that the biggest target is overweight people (54 percent of young people see them targeted sometimes or often). Gay, lesbian or bisexual come next (50 percent). An the African-Americans follow (46 percent).
Of course, we can’t blame this on the Internet. Discrimination’s roots are elsewhere. But the lack of control, the lack of boundaries, the confusion with ethics that rule the web might have something to do with it.
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