In response to Christina Sarette's Blog: New Technology?

I remember when Facebook was a target for bloggers and news organizations who criticized its controversial advertising strategies and privacy settings. At first glance, like them, I felt it was a violation of privacy, how dare they use my personal information to target ads at me? and without my permission!

My opinion on Facebook ads now is very different. I welcome the ads and I don't mind that they use my information to show me ads that are more or less relevant to my interest. I see it almost as a symbiotic relationship between the user and Facebook. Facebook is allowing me to use the service for free and in return they have information that helps them to more accurately target advertisements at me. In order for a company to survive, it has to be profitable. If Facebook was ad-free, they would most likely be charging us for the service they offer. What some people need to understand is that we have control over what is displayed on our public online profiles, and if they don't want Facebook to have access to their information, then just don't use the service. We simply can't blame a company for capitalizing on available data and using it to target ads.

Of course, Facebook isn't perfect... and I do agree with some of the criticism its privacy settings have received, but their ads campaign is totally O.K. with me.

I'm interested to see what other people think about this