"The advertisers are the users, and you are the product." ~Don Norman
Adam Rifkin stashed this in Google!
Stashed in: Interest Graph!, User Generated Content, Twitter!, Facebook!, Marketing!, Emotion, Piggies!, Advertising, Are You Not Entertained?, Monetization, Psychology!, Selling!, You are the product.
Don said it about Google, but it's actually true of any service that sells ads: Facebook, Twitter, television, ...
Source: http://gigaom.com/2011/09/05/don-norman-google-doesnt-get-people-it-sells-them/
It's particularly interesting to think of this in the context of Facebook's profound changes: http://mashable.com/2011/09/21/prepare-for-the-new-facebook/
Facebook's changes have are about people connecting more emotionally with the Facebook service.
Emotional valence -- and the resulting bonding -- leads to better product.
Lifehacker repeats the point: If you're not paying for it, you are the product.
12:56 AM Sep 22 2011