Like most of us, I have a love/hate relationship with “free” stuff in the marketplace.
I’m sure there were precursors, but the first big products I think of as being free were radio programs, quickly followed by TV programs. But of course, they weren’t exactly free. They came with ads.
That early paradigm was an example of a basic principle of the marketplace:
If something is “free”, then it’s you who are the product.
The radio and television producers are attracting your eyes and ears and selling that attention to advertisers. It’s the advertisers who are the customers. You, and your tendency to want to buy things that are advertised effectively, are the product.
I don’t have any big problem with this model. If you aren’t hopelessly gullible or prone to spasms of costly FOMO (fear of missing out), you can enjoy the free programming and simply be mildly annoyed with the ads.
Back in the old days, the ads were a perfect time to go get a beer and a sandwich. Sure, those ads might have swayed me into which brand of beer and bread I chose, but that’s okay. I have no problem with ads steering me towards products I enjoy.
In our more modern environment, that model is still powerful, but it’s used less for radio and TV, which are more commonly purchased directly via satellite, app, or streaming services.
The model of “you are the product” has largely migrated to other “free” services we use. Our web browser, our email provider, our social media platforms, etc.
Heck even this here Substack platform lets producers collect email addresses as we deliver free content. And as we all know these days, a big email list can be a very useful asset if you have a product or service to sell.
I hope to make use of my list in exactly this way. You’ve been warned!
And the advertisers are now able to purchase more than our attention. They can also purchase our data. This is something we should be hyper-aware of. Corporations can now hoover up all kinds of data about us based on our activities online.
Governments can do this too. And of course, they are.
It’s a brave new world out there in “free” product-land, but while there is reason for concern, there’s no reason for despair. This isn’t a hopeless calamity. But we should all be aware of what’s going on and act accordingly.
If you are tech-savvy enough to block or evade the data-grabbers, that’s one solution. A little web-searching will get you to sites that list alternative providers of services that don’t spy on you. It is possible to get the same great services you are accustomed to without giving up all that data.
For the rest of us, who don’t want to bother swapping out all the spying services with versions that don’t do that, we should at least be very very mindful that we have lost our privacy in some very basic and powerful ways.
Always assume your keystrokes and browser history are public. Because they are.
That’s your helpful Public Service Announcement for the week, folks.
Thanks, as always, for listening.
Naturally,
Adam