Social media platforms use an advertising revenue model, where users are not charged directly but are the product being sold to advertisers. Their personal data, including time spent, engagement, behavior, and intellectual property, is collected and sold to advertisers, generating billions in revenue. However, this extensive collection of personal data raises significant privacy and security concerns, as it could potentially fall into the wrong hands and be misused.

1. THE PRICE OF
SOCIAL MEDIA
‘If you’re not paying for it; you
are the product’

2. WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?
The term social media is difficult to define without sounding redundant, the
internet has always been social, from the days of social platforms like
MySpace, Aol, Yahoo Messenger, hi5. (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).
Perhaps the best way to describe what is currently referred as Social media,
is consumer-generated media. (Blackshaw & Nazzaro, 2004).

3. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS

4. USES OF SOCIAL MEDIA?
The use of Social media varies across respective users. Primarily it is used
to curate user generated content in a timely and immediate fashion.
Individuals use it to stay connected and keep up with their friends, families,
loved ones, mentors, favourite celebrities, ex-boyfriends, favourite brand etc.
(Golbeck, Grimes, & Rogers, 2010)

5. USES OF SOCIAL MEDIA?
Politicians use it to reach out to potential voters, raise campaign funds,
clarify statements, receive feedback etc. (Jaeger, Paquette, & Simmons, 2010)
Governments use it to spy on citizens, gain public feedback, track projects,
monitor policy reactions etc. (Bertot, Jaeger, & Hansen, 2012)

6. USES OF SOCIAL MEDIA?
Marketers use it to reach a new audience, learn about their customers, connect
with their audience and potential buyers. (Woodcock, Green, & Starkey, 2011)
Organizations use it to foster good customer relationships, project a likable
organizational image, answer customer questions, monitor customer feedback,
find new prospects, new staffs etc. (Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001)

7. REVENUE MODEL: HOW THEY EARN
MONEY?
Advertising revenue model: Facebook, YouTube
Subscription revenue model: NetFlix
Freemium strategy: Online Journals, Kindle
Transaction fee revenue model: Aliexpress, Ebay
Sales revenue model: Amazon
Affiliate revenue model: Amazon Affiliate Program

8. ADVERTISING REVENUE MODEL
Typically, you can make money by charging users for the services you provide.
You can also attract users by offering them something for free and selling
advertising to companies that want to reach those users.
This is the advertising revenue model. Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter are
based on this revenue model.

10. IS FACEBOOK REALLY FREE?
 Facebook recorded a revenue of $4 billion in the 2015 Q2, revenue from
advertisement represents $3.8 billion of its revenue.
They sell our personal data, time, engagement, behaviour and intellectual
property and they make $3.8 billion.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are the product and Facebook is the marketer.

11. PRIVACY AND DATA
The volume of personal data Google and Facebook has access to is "perhaps
the most difficult privacy [problem] in all of human history. (Tene, 2007).
Google merged its privacy policy across all its products. This will give
google more control over your privacy and your online behaviour (Lee,
2012).
Facebook and Snapchat recently updated their privacy policies to allow
them use your personal information as they see fit.

12. CONCLUSION
Granted, they want to use that information to target their ads and create better
products.
What happens when that data falls into the wrong hands?
How do we know the motives of whoever is holding our personal information?
Today it is adverts, tomorrow it could be an algorithm in a robot who knows your
every move, because it has studied your patterns for years.