The free things are the most expensive!

[Accardo]

So far it doesn't get life threatening, business is good for those platforms. Millions of users do not know about the transaction of data and don't care. The service rendered on social platforms is most user's concern - fun videos, information, and loved one. Assuming they knew data is the new currency for payment on free platforms like Facebook, a great number would reduce usage.

[TopTort777]

If I use fake or not full info when I register on tiktok or facebook, am I paying also something? I think it is free then. Use free mass sms receiver service, free email to make registration. Upload random picture from the web or dont even any. Free of charge after all. What in this case social media will use and earn with my account than? Only by showing ads that I scroll down and dont even pay attention? I had an Instagram account, registered for free and with random info. Use it only to follow few people. I dont think that such account has any value.

[mindrust]

Nobody is forcing you to use those platforms.

This is true but wherever the crowd is, we're also going there. We just can't stop using them when we're hooked on it. These platforms keep on developing and they're the best to advertise products and services and that's why they earn more from them. With free usage, the innocent users don't really know that they're the products that are being sold to the advertisers because they get nothing from it. While those subscription-based platforms, we cannot also be sure if they're not selling our data to wherever we think of.

It is pointless to become hostile against these platforms. Like I said I don’t use facebook, I don’t share my personal info there or on any other social media platform but If I was selling something that would attract the crowd there, I would definitely buy facebook ads.

Don’t be a debbie downer. We gotta think positive. We need to be smart.

If these people are using facebook and insta for whatever reason, think how you can turn their interest into profit.

[Lida93]

If I use fake or not full info when I register on tiktok or facebook, am I paying also something? I think it is free then. Use free mass sms receiver service, free email to make registration. Upload random picture from the web or dont even any. Free of charge after all. What in this case social media will use and earn with my account than? Only by showing ads that I scroll down and dont even pay attention? I had an Instagram account, registered for free and with random info. Use it only to follow few people. I dont think that such account has any value.

You may believe that you are not paying or accessing the platforms you had mentioned at any cost just because you're using a fake or not your real data that defines you but here's the shocking part you fail to take into consideration, which is, you can't access those platforms without having data in your phone to access the internet.

There are many things in this life we may be using by not having to pay for it from my pocket but yet they are not for free, you may be paying for them in some ways either someone somewhere is paying for it for you. Except for the natural things like the air we breathe that could be said to be absolutely free.

[Judith87403]

Google and TikTok may seem free, but every click and scroll you make gets packaged into a "user profile" and sold to advertisers. Take Facebook, for example—it makes about $50 per user per year just from their data. In the internet age, if you're not paying for the product, you are the product.

do people really care much on how there data is being used? people visits the different social media platforms for different reason and the least of their concern is to consider how much platforms like Facebook, twitter or tiktok makes off their data per year. there is nothing even wrong if you are considered the product in the context of the usage of social media users data for the gains of the owner of the platform. it is a two way thing, you enjoy the things you see on the platform and maybe share your own content while you are being paid for the content while the owners of the platform on the other receiving end get their own royalty.

it is all business in the end and that is the reason why you should never waste your time on social media if you are not earning from it or at least using it to market something or use it to do something that gets you paid. in a digital age like ours, everyone ought to have the ability to also benefit from these platforms and not just register with them just to make the numbers.

You're right joining those above mentioned platform when you have no business to advertise there is just like a waste of data, though most people will not see it that way. probably just to get excited by watching those facebook reels, without knowing that those people who are creating those reels get paid when people keep watching their reels.

is obvious that is only those people who are very lazy that can devote their time in watching those reels, reason been that they don't have important things to do with thier time. so they will decide to visit any of this social media platforms just to spend the whole time and data to promote other people, without knowing that the shortest time in a man's life is due to make it honourable. most of those content creators we see today does not have a job, but  instead of them staying idle without doing anything. they decide to come up with the idea of becoming a content creator, because they wouldn't want to waste thier time in doing nothing.

[dunfida]

If I use fake or not full info when I register on tiktok or facebook, am I paying also something? I think it is free then. Use free mass sms receiver service, free email to make registration. Upload random picture from the web or dont even any. Free of charge after all. What in this case social media will use and earn with my account than? Only by showing ads that I scroll down and dont even pay attention? I had an Instagram account, registered for free and with random info. Use it only to follow few people. I dont think that such account has any value.

You may believe that you are not paying or accessing the platforms you had mentioned at any cost just because you're using a fake or not your real data that defines you but here's the shocking part you fail to take into consideration, which is, you can't access those platforms without having data in your phone to access the internet.

There are many things in this life we may be using by not having to pay for it from my pocket but yet they are not for free, you may be paying for them in some ways either someone somewhere is paying for it for you. Except for the natural things like the air we breathe that could be said to be absolutely free.

For those who had been that thinking up that way then just let them be on which as long they arent that in trouble or in some harm then they wont really be caring at all as long they could freely make use of and there's no problem on something that they are currently dealing then they wont really be caring at all on what are those information or anything that they might be that giving without them knowing as long they are enjoying then thats what matter the most. There's no such thing about being free on this world, it might looks free but you are exchanging something on which they can benefit out and this is how business works and you are indeed the product.

Some are really that highly that concerning about privacy issues and thats why they are careful on sharing up their information online and doesnt trust up any services or platforms on which this isnt that bad at all if you do really value that privacy but if you dont care and just wanting to access these sites for entertainment and other similar purposes then you wont really be that caring at all and you will be that continuing on what you are currently doing.

[alastantiger]

Google and TikTok may seem free, but every click and scroll you make gets packaged into a "user profile" and sold to advertisers. Take Facebook, for example—it makes about $50 per user per year just from their data. In the internet age, if you're not paying for the product, you are the product.

I have to agree because I have witnessed how my sensitive information are being used for marketing for me. I get ads in my device when I have browse about things related to the ads. Our phone is listing and using everything we do to profile us. But social media aren't free because we're paying for them. Apart from the verification that we now have to pay for, we use our internet that are paid for to browse the social media. Social media aren't free as they say they're because broke people cayn have access to the social media as they'll have to buy data which cost money. Free things aren't free as we'll have to pay for them either with our time or with our personal data that are being sold to advertisement company without our consent. When browsing social media,  being cautious of the information we let out is very important.

[Alphakilo]

Google and TikTok may seem free, but every click and scroll you make gets packaged into a "user profile" and sold to advertisers. Take Facebook, for example—it makes about $50 per user per year just from their data. In the internet age, if you're not paying for the product, you are the product.

I am the product and it is not free.

These large corporations harvest our data, invade our privacy without our consent and steal our information. They use it for their experiments to develop other products to keep us stuck with them. And they tell us if we need premium package to access their products we have to make some payments for it, if not they will disturb us with unwanted adverts.

They know more about us than we know about ourselves from many years of intrusion. They go as far as influencing our wants, needs and mundane desires because they listening in on us. That is the price we pay for the "free thing".

[passwordnow]

Nobody is forcing you to use those platforms.

This is true but wherever the crowd is, we're also going there. We just can't stop using them when we're hooked on it. These platforms keep on developing and they're the best to advertise products and services and that's why they earn more from them. With free usage, the innocent users don't really know that they're the products that are being sold to the advertisers because they get nothing from it. While those subscription-based platforms, we cannot also be sure if they're not selling our data to wherever we think of.

It is pointless to become hostile against these platforms. Like I said I don’t use facebook, I don’t share my personal info there or on any other social media platform but If I was selling something that would attract the crowd there, I would definitely buy facebook ads.

Don’t be a debbie downer. We gotta think positive. We need to be smart.

If these people are using facebook and insta for whatever reason, think how you can turn their interest into profit.

A lot of users that are using these platforms for their business, I have tried to search for the percentage of it and it seems that it's more than 90% of the entire users. While the rest of them are using it for personal use, socializing online and contacting friends and love ones. I'm not sure with the stats but it looks that many of them uses it for that purpose and people have already learned from that.

[CoinFoxs]

It is a marketing strategy that in starting companies give access to their platforms free of cost and after sometime when they get users they start charging them as we see Facebook charges amount when users verified their profiles same goes with snapchat. And yes Facebook sell advertisements space to advertisers and in return Facebook generate revenue.

[batang_bitcoin]

It is a marketing strategy that in starting companies give access to their platforms free of cost and after sometime when they get users they start charging them as we see Facebook charges amount when users verified their profiles same goes with snapchat. And yes Facebook sell advertisements space to advertisers and in return Facebook generate revenue.

That is right, it is a marketing strategy and I think everyone is shown to the terms and conditions before they sign up. The revenue that they generate is because of the users but they have infrastructures that are open to everyone and I think that's the best product that they can offer for free in return of their revenue. Whilst for the verification, it's not that much at all because they have copied the idea to Twitter now X to have those verified badges but it's another source of revenue for them.

[AmoreJaz]

It is a marketing strategy that in starting companies give access to their platforms free of cost and after sometime when they get users they start charging them as we see Facebook charges amount when users verified their profiles same goes with snapchat. And yes Facebook sell advertisements space to advertisers and in return Facebook generate revenue.

That is right, it is a marketing strategy and I think everyone is shown to the terms and conditions before they sign up. The revenue that they generate is because of the users but they have infrastructures that are open to everyone and I think that's the best product that they can offer for free in return of their revenue. Whilst for the verification, it's not that much at all because they have copied the idea to Twitter now X to have those verified badges but it's another source of revenue for them.

Most of the time, users don't read the terms before signing up. Usually, they will only check it once they got into trouble. And of course, it is already too late when that happens, because either your accout is frozen or suspended and your funds are being "hostaged" for you to comply with their requirements. Just be aware of the changing terms of the site you are visiting. Because they may not published it at the start but later on, they will add or alter their terms without notice from their subscribers. So it is a good practice if you will check every once in a while the terms of the site you are having account with.

[batang_bitcoin]

It is a marketing strategy that in starting companies give access to their platforms free of cost and after sometime when they get users they start charging them as we see Facebook charges amount when users verified their profiles same goes with snapchat. And yes Facebook sell advertisements space to advertisers and in return Facebook generate revenue.

That is right, it is a marketing strategy and I think everyone is shown to the terms and conditions before they sign up. The revenue that they generate is because of the users but they have infrastructures that are open to everyone and I think that's the best product that they can offer for free in return of their revenue. Whilst for the verification, it's not that much at all because they have copied the idea to Twitter now X to have those verified badges but it's another source of revenue for them.

Most of the time, users don't read the terms before signing up. Usually, they will only check it once they got into trouble. And of course, it is already too late when that happens, because either your accout is frozen or suspended and your funds are being "hostaged" for you to comply with their requirements.

I am guilty of that but at least I get to check some clause of it but they're all the same that they have the means to do whatever they can with the data they've collected from us. They could send it to the advertisers but at most times, they'd only say that they are going to protect it and they'll keep it safe. There is no transparency in there but as a regular user, who cares right? as long as I get to use the platform and registered on it and can contact all of my highschool and college friends through it. Just be a responsible and disciplined user, overall in the internet and not just with these social media platforms.

[sokani]

If I use fake or not full info when I register on tiktok or facebook, am I paying also something? I think it is free then. Use free mass sms receiver service, free email to make registration. Upload random picture from the web or dont even any. Free of charge after all. What in this case social media will use and earn with my account than? Only by showing ads that I scroll down and dont even pay attention? I had an Instagram account, registered for free and with random info. Use it only to follow few people. I dont think that such account has any value.

This is quite funny but the truth is, registering with a fake profile as you said, whether a fake name or picture doesn't mean some of your real information cannot be harvested by Tiktok, Facebook or any of these social media platforms. Don't forget they've your IP address which reveals your geolocation and with it they can easily send targeted ads to you.

[STT]

I much prefer the free model, just dont give out your real details and what are you really giving them anyway then just some random data.   Surely the world needs the micro payment model of advertising and these data fed companies, alot of people have no money spare so the concept scales.

Way before Bitcoin arrived, it was this scalable idea of advertising to the masses that powered the first websites and development revenue on them.  If we didnt have that kickstart, money from the masses even tiny amounts it would have taken the internet so much longer to become as strong as it has.
   Advertising revenue is a big deal, its a real hidden positive in an economy and a vital pulse of money to many operations.

[Pi-network314159]

Google and TikTok may seem free, but every click and scroll you make gets packaged into a "user profile" and sold to advertisers. Take Facebook, for example—it makes about $50 per user per year just from their data. In the internet age, if you're not paying for the product, you are the product.

In the context of the phrase " the free things are the most expensive" I would have thought you will be talking about, water, air, oxygen and the rest of the free things God created for mankind. However in addressing the free things you listed, they are basically not free, these are people's businesses you mentored, for you to use their facility, you have to pay for it, those apps were not invented from the beginning to be use on free bases, for the inventor to build it and put it on the app store, he definitely paid for it to be there, so you the end user too will have to pay for it.

Your insight are thoughtful though, I have thought of that  thinking about free thing being expensive but looking at op thread and the content of the message it doesn't align to his statement. There a lot of things that looks free but expensive and you have listed them which number 1 is oxigen that human breath which is life. When a person is hospitalized and the matter is a serious one that requires using oxygen to resolitate the person life, then you will know that the life we leave each day is so expensive. Take for example you are on oxygen in a sick bed for 6 months you will know that the live you leave is even more expensive that the money you are looking for that is why they said health is wealth.

[Republikcoin.com]

Google and TikTok may seem free, but every click and scroll you make gets packaged into a "user profile" and sold to advertisers. Take Facebook, for example—it makes about $50 per user per year just from their data. In the internet age, if you're not paying for the product, you are the product.

Now the era is like that so everyone just needs to make adjustments and understand things like that very well. Because every company that has launched its product and is used by many people around the world, of course it will bring quite good profits to the company and its owners will become richer. However, if we examine it more deeply, everyone also really needs Google, TikTok and Facebook in promoting the goods they have, which even have to rely on several other social media to support their respective businesses.

[EarnOnVictor]

Google and TikTok may seem free, but every click and scroll you make gets packaged into a "user profile" and sold to advertisers. Take Facebook, for example—it makes about $50 per user per year just from their data. In the internet age, if you're not paying for the product, you are the product.

Talking about the devils themselves(Facebook, Google, TikTok etc), no wonder the countries with the right intelligence and technology are slamming them with heavy fines yearly. Google itself is the major player, but a silent crook here and I know they do it for pecuniary reasons. I noticed that any time I visited some websites or apps that had nothing to do with Google without signing up or logging in, I started receiving emails from them, and an example of such a company is Quora. Again, I use Android and often discover that my lifestyle which is not even posted online is what I'm targeted towards with adverts. That means we are not private with our gadgets and they are selling it out to enrich themselves.

[davis196]

Google and TikTok may seem free, but every click and scroll you make gets packaged into a "user profile" and sold to advertisers. Take Facebook, for example—it makes about $50 per user per year just from their data. In the internet age, if you're not paying for the product, you are the product.

Most expensive for whom? Do you suggest that Google, TikTok and other social media platforms are "expensive" for the ordinary user?
How are they expensive for the regular user? Those platforms are gathering data about your personal interests and preferences, so that the advertisers could show you targeted ads, which might suit your preferences and interests. I don't know anything about any social media platform, that is selling your sensitive personal data to "shady buyers". If you are too afraid to use social media platforms, just don't create  profiles there. Nobody is forcing you to use social media platforms.

[Minor Miner]

Google and TikTok may seem free, but every click and scroll you make gets packaged into a "user profile" and sold to advertisers. Take Facebook, for example—it makes about $50 per user per year just from their data. In the internet age, if you're not paying for the product, you are the product.

Nothing is free in this world and everything has a price. If you are not satisfied with the policies and agreements of these apps and feel you are being exploited, you can stop using them because no one is forcing you to use them. But if you have accepted to use them, you should stop complaining because it is your choice and decision, no one is holding a knife to your neck and forcing you to do it.


Developers spend millions, even billions of dollars along with their brainpower and effort to create a space for people to use and in return, they collect users' data for business purposes. I think it's deserved, it's fair and if we were in their shoes, I think we would do the same. I think the reason we complain is because we can't do those things and we envy them more than we actually care about personal data.