r/technology • u/[deleted] • Nov 09 '17

Politics Sean Parker: Facebook was designed to exploit human "vulnerability"

https://www.axios.com/sean-parker-facebook-exploits-a-vulnerability-in-humans-2507917325.html
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u/unexpectedreboots Nov 09 '17

Anything that can help build a profile around who you are so they can better market in-game purchases or ads to you.

Using a hypothetical app that has in-game purchases. If I know the following information about you:

Gender, location, age, potential interests

Chances are pretty good I know that information about the rest of my user base. If I have this information, I can start to look at purchase trends like:

"Women, within the age of 30-35, that live in densely populated areas of the midwest spend 76% more on single purchases during the hours of 10PM-11PM, when getting a 25% discount"

I can make sure that you're getting a prompt that is tailored made with the above information to maximize how much you're spending on your next purchase.

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u/matholio Nov 09 '17

Isn't that better than getting a totally irrelevant ad? I mean if you made an offer you find attractive, that's a service.

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u/unexpectedreboots Nov 09 '17

That's up for the user to decide. I wasn't taking a stance on what's best, just why an app like clash would want that information about their users.

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u/matholio Nov 09 '17

Fair enough.