The Facebook Ads Teens Aren't Supposed To See 111
schwit1 writes in with this story about Facbook's questionable ads including webcam modeling and diet drugs. "Sophie Bean, 14, of Sequim, Wash., said she was thought she was 'liking' a Facebook ad related to fashion modeling. Instead, it promoted a Facebook page that recruited adult webcam models. 'I just thought it was for modeling, and I'm interested in that, and I thought it would help me out,' Sophie said. Sophie wasn't the only teen connecting with the page, which Facebook statistics show is most popular with users 13 to 17. Clicking on it didn't pull the teens into nude webcam modeling, but did mean they would receive the page's updates and could be mentioned in future versions of the ad."
Good example (Score:5, Insightful)
This clearly demonstrates that "you" are the product!
multiple levels of scaryness (Score:3, Insightful)
said she was thought she was 'liking' a Facebook ad related to fashion modeling.
Wow... I understand she's only 14 and all, but we really need to start making sure kids understand how the internet works, and that every single thing they do is data-mined and used to monitize them... and not for their benefit! That they should NEVER "like" a facebook ad, and even better, should only be online using adblock.
It's scary that someone who's 14 is unaware of how to protect themselves online, and it's scary that we're not as a society teaching them this, just like we teach them reading, writing, math, history, civil rights, and balancing a budget. Knowing how to protect yourself in the digital world is now just as important as knowing how to protect yourself in the real world.
Re:multiple levels of scaryness (Score:5, Insightful)
[...] just like we teach them reading, writing, math, history, civil rights, and balancing a budget.
Actually, I don't believe that we tend to teach them any of those things either.
So desperate already? (Score:5, Insightful)
Typically, porn-related ads are a sign of a desperate website.
Worst thing since... (Score:2, Insightful)
This is the worst thing since newspaper classified ads recruited women for phone sex.
Remember newspaper classified ads? They were like Craigslist, except you had to buy the newspaper to see them.
Re:So desperate already? (Score:1, Insightful)
Typically, porn-related ads are a sign of a desperate website.
Creating an advert that takes advantage of the Facebook API, and than buying screen time on Facebook does not involve human interaction of any kind on Facebook's part.
A flaw? Perhaps. But your thesis is not supported by this occurrence.
First, there is nothing wrong at all about advertising adult services to adults. While the majority of Americans are prudes, there are some that are not.
Second, you know as well as I do that as soon as Facebook became / becomes aware of this incident, they will remove it.
Sure, everyone knows that Facebook is derided and hated at Slashdot, but really, what else should they do? And anyway, Little Sophie from Sequim (pronounced "Skwim" by the way) will be set after her parents hire a lawyer extort a few hundred thousand from Facebook for "psychological damage and suffering".
Seems more like sleazy advertisers (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean - I get it, we should all be aware on line. But it's not the end of the world to "like" a product manufacturer or service provider. It can be a symbiotic relationship - I like your stuff and want to keep abreast of what you're doing so I "like" your page and get updates. That might be the release of a new octocopter, or a new show opening at Disney World, or casting dates for an indie film, or a coupon for a new makeup product.
This sounds more like false advertising from a sleazy online porn shop. So, yes, we should all be aware; but we shouldn't be paranoid.And, yes, I think Facebook has a role/responsibility in vetting their advertisers and leveraging their data for appropriate marketing targets.
Re:Good example (Score:2, Insightful)
No, it clearly demonstrates this girl, like so many others is a moron who just clicks on things with out investigating what's she's clicking on...
Re: Be that as it may... (Score:2, Insightful)
Upper 1% of hotness? Have you actually looked at models? It's 'uniqueness'. There's still a requirement for symmetry, but not for beauty.
Tyra banks? Huge forehead. Mills jovovich? Kind of cute but also slightly androgynous. Most other models have wide set eyes and weird chins. They are in essence, outliers of hotness...also known as being kind of ugly.
You know what's scientifically proven to be hot? Average-ness. If you're symmetrical and your facial features approximate an average of all human phenotypes, you're hot.
Again, if you want to be a model...you just need to look weirder than most people.
Re:I'm from Portugal (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm not sure people from most other countries understand the "think of the CHIIIIILDREN!" hysteria that grips the Anglophone world on a regular basis. We seem to have developed this bizarre idea that people are supposed to be completely sheltered from the world until they reach the age of legal adulthood ... at which point they're supposed to know in every particular how to deal with the responsibility that entails.
Re:So desperate already? (Score:3, Insightful)
Creating an advert that takes advantage of the Facebook API, and than buying screen time on Facebook does not involve human interaction of any kind on Facebook's part.
yes, clearly it is a brilliant idea to take that into consideration and remove all responsibility from everyone that automates their work in the interest of higher profit margins.
Re:News at 11 (Score:4, Insightful)
Stupid American brat clicks on Facebook ad she doesn't like. The world is shocked.
No... the news will be parent sues ad company for advertising underaged teens as webcam models. From the summary:
Clicking on it (the ad) ....... did mean they would receive the page's updates and could be mentioned in future versions of the ad.
So when the ad company automatically uses a teens photos in a new version of the ad... Some parents might get slightly angry, and a lawsuit and police charges probably wouldn't be impossible.
:)
Anyways, I for one am looking forward to that story