Are Your Law Firm's Facebook Ads Creepy?
Unless you're advertising on it, using Facebook is like going to a restaurant for cannibals. You're not there for dinner, you're their dinner. Sure, there might be some pleasantries along the way, a nice fire, a warm bath, a massage maybe, but in the end, you're getting eaten.
As Ars Technica explains, when it comes to Facebook, users are the product, not the customer. Although there are some nice features that users get to take advantage of, at the end of the day, it's a user's data that is making the company money and being leveraged and sold for advertising, and other purposes.
Scary Smart Advertising
Online advertising may just be part of the future we live in now. But it's getting to be a bit much.
Have you ever been shocked by just how targeted online advertising can be? For example, after shopping for some random thing, you start seeing ads for that same item all over the web? Or maybe it "just happened" that you were texting or messaging with someone about vacation plans or a potential purchase, and you started getting ads related to those travel plans or purchase?
If it wasn't at least better than the random and completely irrelevant ads that used to annoy everyone online, then more people would likely be outraged.
Law Firms: Watch the Creepiness
For many small law firms, Facebook is a great platform for cost effective potential client outreach and advertising. However, it might be a good idea to make sure you know how much access the website actually has to your firm's information, and how it's targeting users you want to reach. The last thing you want is for your ad viewers to think you or your firm are creepy.
For example, if you're using messenger to chat with potential clients, can you really be sure that your chat is confidential? Or that your potential client won't get targeted by another law firm's ad after your chat? Or worse, they'll get creeped out due to a targeted product advertisement based on the info divulged over messenger?
Related Resources:
- The Potential Location of Amazon's Second Headquarters (FindLaw's Technologist)
- Blackberry Sues Snap Over Messaging Technology (FindLaw's Technologist)
- Cryptocurrency Founders Charged With Fraud (FindLaw's Technologist)