Facebook Advertisements & Regulations
October 25 2018
Table of Contents
Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………. 2-3
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………3-5
Methodology …………………………………………………………………………………..5-7
Results …………………………………………………………………………………………… 7-8
Conclusion and Discussion ……………………………………………………………….8-9
Recommendations ……………………………………………………………………………9-11
Appendix ………………………………………………………………………………………… 12
Abstract
Facebook’s mission statement is to “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”The purpose of this report is to observe and analyze the influence of advertising on Facebook and how age correlates with these advertisements. In doing so, analyze the influence advertisements have on certain age groups. Looking at age closely will also help identify what type of audience is affected more by advertisements. Qualitative and quantitative research was collected by Facebook news feed and personal surveys posted on Facebook. Those that were surveyed were of different age groups, ranging from 14-65-years-old. These interviews helped us research further into how age affects what types of things people post. The posts observed were images, videos, news articles, links to websites, thoughts and ideas were displayed on the website.
The overall conclusions gained from studying and finding the correlations between age and advertisements leads us to try to prove if the following claims are valid. More individuals will react or comment on a food advertisement over a devastating news story. The information you inquire on a google search, or other social media outlets, you will find on your Facebook’s news feed, due to algorithm. More times than not, posts by those we know are videos or of something shared; not a thought-through-individualized post. Most people don’t dig deeper into the advertisements than what they see at face value when scrolling. Most ads come from professional platforms, not so much small businesses or local businesses. Noticing a shift in change of how many older users use Facebook more now than the younger generation. Users who use both Facebook and Instagram, post the same pictures or statuses on both, at the same time. Each generation uses Facebook differently; therefore, the advertisements influence different age groups in different ways.
Introduction
Social media is influencing us more than ever in our society today. The various social media platforms are growing and continuously adding new features to enhance their audience’s desire to use them. Facebook was one of the first mega social media platforms to hit the internet. It became a phenonium after Myspace was the top platform for virtual connection. Facebook spread rapidly and expanded across all parts of the world in 10+ languages universally across our nation. Although, Facebook is considered to be the leading social media platform in our world today, it appears that more and more of our younger generation is turning away from this popular site. Certain demographics are turning away from Facebook and using Instagram and Snapchat more frequently. Those that are utilizing Facebook are noticing the rise in advertisements and how when they search something somewhere else on their phone or computer, it will automatically pop up in an advertisement on their news feed. The age of these individuals is noted when studying these various posts of advertisements.
Facebook was created to connect people together, yet as we are noticing, it is actually bringing us apart in many ways. The scary fact is that more people are turning to Facebook to discover the news, than they are watching or reading credited news sources. What will happen to our society if more individuals receive and believe the information they are acquiring on Facebook? Will this affect the intelligence of the people in our country and will negative bias opinions continue to grow in such an accepting diverse population?
Methodology
Research for this assignment was collected by surveying Facebook users three different times of the day. Qualitative data was studied and collected in the morning, afternoon, and evening. This data was collected by analyzing posts from both individuals and advertisement posts.
| 11hrs. Ago Kelsey Walsh posed a video
“I don’t know enough about this topic but I can say that the last time I had to go to the hospital I had to pay almost $100 for them to tell me nothing was wrong with me” From This is Politics “Watch this Canadian doctor own a GOP senator on health care” 4 likes on her personal post, and 24,776,461 Views on the public post
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Ashley- “Bye Bye New York. Finally got a return call on a position I interviewed for months ago. I didn’t speak on it (not even my family and close friends knew) because I didn’t want to jinx it but I’m happy to announce that I’ve accepted the position and I have made the decision to move to Los Angeles. I promise I will stay in touch, especially because this isn’t real, and you should post it as your status and see how many people actually read stuff until the end.”
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39 mins. Ago Moise Laub posted:
-“This senseless has to stop. This IS TRAUMA, there is a lot of unaddressed trauma happening in our community. We NEED to come together and TEACH and HEAL OUR children and OUR community and how it affects everyone. More police would NOT have solved this issue. People have and are suffering, they ARE trauma attached and pass it on generation to generation. This is an ALL HANDS on deck MOMENT! We need to educate ourselves, we need to EDUCATE and INVOLVE parents, teachers, students, police, other community agencies AND THE PEOPLE OF SYRACUSE about trauma. It won’t stop every violent crime but we may just save someone’s life.” – 3 likes
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12 mins. Ago Claire Stocum
– posted a photo album labeled “the final chapter” -9 photos and 2 videos, tagged 13 people (including me). -The photo location was mapped on Seneca lake, and the photos were from a fall getaway weekend trip that included students from Cornell, Ithaca College, Syracuse, Cortland and SUNY Albany. -The photos included groups of these students laughing, dancing and just hanging out. -Claire, 20, is a senior at Syracuse University studying marketing So far, there are 6 likes
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The following are responses to questions asked on October 10, 2018 through a Facebook poll survey.
Do you pay attention to the advertisements on your Facebook page? What are some advertisements that grab your attention?
Answers:
- Rebecca Lloyd
I usually don’t, but a Netflix one about Narnia just came up and I commented on it.
I never look at the ads. I might see an interesting picture, but once I recognize it as a solicitation I keep on scrolling. Personally, I think people are over solicited to the point of becoming antisocial.
I don’t usually, but ads that pop up after I’ve thought about something but NEVER mentioned it out loud or searched for creep me out to the max and instantly grab my attention.
Not much, but FB is great for communication! However, some people do Facebook marketing very effectively like Chris Gavin.
- Justin Kevalaitis
Yep, I do. I’m a marketer though, so I’m kind of cool with being solicited stuff. And the whole targeted ads thing isn’t that scary when you realize that your info is sold between ad platforms and that any e-commerce site you visit is going to retarget.
No, I don’t.
Generally, I ignore them because I am not a fan of shopping on-line. However, from time-to-time, an ad for jewelry or home decor product that has some kind of ethical, environmental, social, or spiritual effort/focus pops up. I’ll visit those sites. I haven’t bought anything from any of those sites yet. I have considered placing some items on my Christmas list. Hope this helps! Happy primary researching!
I usually scroll so fast I don’t even see them. And the ones I do see aren’t interesting most of the time. Advertisements for deals on quality products that I would buy normally.
Results and Discussion
The information you inquire on a google search, or other social media outlets, you will find on your Facebook’s news feed, due to algorithm.
Broadcast outlets are regulated much more than Internet media companies, including social media companies. The stated purpose of broadcast companies is to provide news, information, as well as entertainment. In today’s media landscape, there are many Internet media companies that are not regulated; therefore, there are implications which arise for our society.
I believe that enforcing regulation for social media is necessary and essential because there is a rising number of younger people who acquire all their news and information from these websites. The stated purpose of social media companies, as indicated by their name, is to connect people and organizations to share social interaction. In addition, news and information tend to also be provided secondarily on social media websites, but this has become an issue due to sources which spread false and biased information. Our younger generation is not seeking information from credible sources. A credible source has become a social media outlet. A media company becomes a news source when there is factual information being distributed to the public by reliable sources. Broadcast news sources hire professional journalists with credentials from universities. In contrast, anyone can be a journalist in a social media company. A university degree is not required to put information on social media websites when posting a story or declaring an opinion, there are no credentials needed, and no experience is required. A bigger problem will arise if we allow future generations of America to ignore the importance of a credible news source. Fewer people are trusting the media, and more are believing “fake news,” which I fear will lead to a majority of Americans who will be ignorant of important issues.
The same regulations on obscenity in broadcast news should apply to social media. Regulation includes limits on vulgar speech, as well as obscene images, and video. As for what constitutes obscenity, the Supreme Court has decided cases which defines “community standards” and the limits of obscene speech. Social Media authors are publicizing links to news, but the reliability of these sources is sometimes questioned. The problem is that younger generations are not questioning sources and this causes the controversial stance issue on whether or not we should take responsibility to regulate Internet media to develop safety and intellect. Social media companies would need to hire editors and fact checkers to ensure honesty to their news.
Broadcast news sources must abide by limits to free speech in the area of hate speech, slander, inciting violence, and similar kinds of speech. This is the same approach that needs to apply to social media websites. A public regulator needs to be appointed and the appropriate suitable candidate would be the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. Anders Aslund, a senior at the Atlantic Council and leading specialist on economic policy in Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe, says that considering social media moves rapidly, it would be desirable to add a special social media regulator with the capability of acting faster than the FCC does.
The opposing argument also states, if anything is enforced regarding this matter, initiating government regulation could lead to a slippery slope of too much regulation and stifling free speech. These perceptions have merits because this could violate the Constitution of the United States of America’s First Amendment, which states, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Recently, there isn’t any enforced regulation from social media companies. Facebook sold political advertisements to Russians, and Twitter inadvertently allowed a multitude of Russian bots. Aslund states, “When a newspaper publishes a letter from the public, it usually demands to know the name and address of the author. In the same way, in democratic countries, social media should demand knowledge of the holder of all accounts.” Those who are opposed to this say this violates their privacy. However, I believe that a far greater violation of privacy is when anonymous bots slander real people on the web in front of millions. I may not comprehend all the information discussed on this controversial issue, but I do know compromise and reasonable balance is necessary.
Conclusion and Recommendations
After conducting this study, the research supported the claims that were addressed. The advertisements are subjective to what someone searches on other internet websites or different social media outlets. First, the claim that was made about more individuals going to Facebook for their news source is very accurate. This was proven by the number of likes and comments shown in each post that was studied. More individuals will react or comment on a food advertisement over a devastating news story. Secondly, privacy is shown to be valued on Facebook; however, information that is shared anywhere can be accessed as shown in the Theta Tau Fraternity case. With privacy issues and expansion of “fake news” there are many questions left unanswered. What are the long-term effects of these two issues? Will society become more hostile due to uniformed, uneducated individuals having access to “private” information that doesn’t seem to be so private?
Appendix
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-stats-for-marketers/#adstats
https://www.facebook.com/acapodagli
https://www.facebook.com/leah.walsh.23
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