Online search histories of social media users are changing how businesses market and communicate to potential customers

Have you ever stopped and thought about what kind of content you are searching for online and whether or not someone could know this information thousands of miles away? Well it has recently crossed my mind and I have found it to be an interesting, yet somewhat unsettling idea. Facebook has the ability to track and know what every user is doing on the internet and what they are searching for. Facebook has employees who work for them whose sole job is to track Facebook users search histories daily. Facebook can then sell the ability to advertise on their website to businesses and from there, essentially ensure these businesses that Facebook has narrowed down the potential intended buyers by what Facebook users have been searching online recently.

Facebook and other businesses work together in today's marketing scheme

Since Facebook is so popularly used, marketing on this website is a no brainer for a businesses looking to get their product on to the market. There are two types of ways businesses market on Facebook. There is the idea that Facebook uses advertising to make money, which essentially is Facebook selling spots on their page for a click by click basis to businesses who want to market to their potential customers. This method will most likely reach the most potential customers, however it can be expensive to produce and use. Then there are businesses who uses Facebook's page applications to advertise. In this instance, the business will make a Facebook page that people can "Like" and get updates on specific products, whether it may be discounts or a new product that is coming out soon. This method is free and can be very helpful, but it is also hard to extensively promote a new business using solely this method because there is no brand attached to this company name and many people won't know who your business is. 

Marketing on Facebook is great for businesses, but uses private information that customers might not be aware of

Graph of what Facebook is tracking on a daily basis. 

Now that the relationship of marketing between Facebook and businesses has been established, I will go in detail about what Facebook does in order to find out more about their members. It is safe to say that Facebook is watching their users every move online. Whether you know it or not, many businesses have been using this type of tracking or spying to their advantage in order to reach out to potential customers. According to Business Insider, Facebook uses cookies, Javascripts, 1-pixel beacons, and Iframes in order to monitor and track what websites people are going to, how often they go to them, and what they buy on these websites on a daily basis. Facebook then uses this information to figure out which websites you visited most so they can start a marketing campaign for these specific types of products. For example, when I go on my Facebook page right now I see ads on the right side of my news feed that are promoting "The Varsity", which is an apartment complex about a mile away from where many college students live. Facebook knows my age, gender, race, where I go to college, where I live, and how many times I have visited "The Varsity" web page in the past when I was looking for potential housing in 2013. It doesn't just stop there however. They also know my favorite sports teams, the fraternity that I am in, the fact that I shop at Brooks Brothers and JCrew, and what types of movies I like. All of this information has come up in some sort of ad just in the last day after checking Facebook a few times. The question is, do people actually know this is going on and if they do, are there a large enough population that would not be alright with having this private information made public? My guess would be absolutely yes.

Since I am currently in college I thought it would be a good idea to get a professionals view on the issue. I was able to interview Dr. David B. Godes, the Associate professor of marketing in the business school at University of Maryland, College Park.

Godes talks about whether or not it is unethical or an invasion of privacy to use social media users past search histories in order to promote and market to potential customers. He gives a very diplomatic answer and says it is wrong if people don't know about it, but it is ethical if people are aware of it and there is a way to control whether or not Facebook can use their search histories.

Social media has become a part of everyday life and influences many people

Wake up, get out of bed, go to the computer, and check Facebook. Eat breakfast, go to work or school, and check Facebook on your phone. Get home from work or school, go to your computer, and check Facebook once again. This has become a normal routine for millions of people of all ages around the world. Social media in general is something that, as of about fifteen or so years ago, did not exist in popular society. Social media has completely changed the way we communicate, shop, and stay connected with friends. It is acceptable to say that social media in general, has a great deal of influence on the way our society operates and continues to progress. According to socialbakers.com, Facebook is still on the rise around the world and is being used by more than half of the population in the United States. To put that into perspective, there are around 169 million Facebook users in the United States today. In my opinion, that is a lot of people to have some sort of power over, which makes Facebook a huge influence on the way people think and make decisions in today's society.

Just the other day I was discussing with a couple of my friends about how social media like Facebook and Twitter has been affecting the way that businesses have been marketing to potential customers. The first person I asked was my friend Adam Chubak, a senior at UMD, on the issue and this is what he says:

listen to ‘Interview #1 non expert’ on Audioboo

Next I interviewed my roommate and good friend Alex Silverman, a Sophomore government and politics and journalism major, about the same question I asked previously and this is what he says:

listen to ‘Interview #2 non expert ’ on Audioboo

Business have changed their focus to social media due to large amounts of potential customers and the ability to use potential customers preferences from internet searches

Imagine being able to reach millions of people with the click of a button. That is how businesses in today's society feel and it is one of the best things that could have ever happened to the marketing world. Now imagine being a business and knowing down to the specific person who to market your product to. This is essentially what Facebook has done with the ability to track users past history searches and it has been very successful. Therefore, online search histories of social media users like Facebook has changed businesses way of marketing to potential customers.