Facebook Not the First or Only Business to Exploit Users

COMMENTARY | It doesn't matter if an internet company goes public, like Facebook's big IPO announcement. Users are exploited to advertisers. This is the way of the business world. Ad dollars makes the world go around. Using or selling user information to businesses isn't anything new; it's been going on long before Facebook.

Don't believe me? Read through any of the terms of service on any website you signed up for. You will find they say they won't sell your information, but they are using what information you provide against you in the advertising world.

Big business buy ad placement on websites just like they do for TV commercial spots. The more they pay; the better spots they get on any given website. The same goes for radio spots.

It doesn't matter if you're listening, socializing or watching online, advertisers pay the bills for free sites like Facebook and even with search engines like Google. Commercial spots, whether video, text blocks, or banners, you get inundated by manufacturers and sales companies.

There's no getting around it, folks. Driving down the interstate, you find billboard ads. Open a newspaper, you find small, medium, and full-page ads; same for magazines. You even see it in any retail store you walk in to.

Don't like it? Stay home in bed under the covers. Don't turn on any electronic device. Don't buy a magazine or newspaper.

You can't even get into a cab or on a bus without some form of advertising staring you down. Don't make a big deal out of Facebook pimping you to advertisers to earn monies on the back side of the program. Don't be mad because investors are going to see a return on their stocks because of being pimped out to the masses of advertisers.

Still don't like it? Close your account. Disconnect your Internet service. Move on to things that don't require you to share anything about yourself. Just don't complain about the rising costs of goods because you want to prove a point.

No matter how well Facebook's IPO does upon release and in the future, the world will still revolve, advertisers will advertise, and life will go on. You will be exploited in one way or another.