One of the most
shocking revelations that came to light this year was Facebook’s involvement
with Cambridge Analytica, a data firm which involved the two companies
collaborating together to harvest user data for millions of Facebook users and
then use that data to manipulate advertising. Facebook were reportedly paid
money by a number of organizations including the campaign to elect Donald Trump
as President of the United States and what they would do is that based on the
data of a particular they would manipulate advertising on things that a
particular user might not necessarily like, with things they would find
favorable according to his Facebook profile.
For example, if a person liked
cats but didn’t necessarily like Donald Trump, he would see ads where Trump would
be holding a cat and petting it. All this was done to manipulate the perception
of a user. And experts say this data-mining had a huge hand in influencing the
U.S election in 2016.
David C. Edelman
talks about how the very idea of branding is bound to shift in the new age and
privacy of users will be violated whether they like it or not and whether they
know about it or not. The best way to avoid the dark-side on digital marketing
is to be vigilant in regards to what you see and agree to online. Because this
was one of the very reasons Facebook’s actions were deemed unethical rather
than illegal, because everyone had agreed to it.
These revelations all serve as eye-opening
warnings into the level at which the internet has taken control of our lives.
While it possesses many virtues particularly when it comes to advancing the
field of marketing, it also possesses many dark corners that need to be
navigated with utmost caution
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