Re: McConnell’s Comments on Facebook Advertising

This point of view belies a clear lack of understanding of the so-called “Gen-Y” users who make up the majority users of websites like Facebook.

Those of us who are members of the generation that would consider breaking up with a significant other on a website like Facebook – not that that is something we’re all proud to say – also came to understand the concept of “free as in advertising” long ago.

We have been brought up in an era in which media, content, and services are frequently made available to us for free in exchange for being asked to tolerate a little bit of advertising, and are willing to accept that in exchange for better content and services. Hulu’s ad-driven model and gains over YouTube in less than a year prove this point.

As creepy as it may be, we also all accept on some level that better targeting means more relevant advertising, which in turn makes the advertising itself a service we are beginning to appreciate. Facebook, is, in fact, a prime example of this.

The position is also fairly one-sided as presented. Ultimately, enough people understand that the decision is actually between paying out-of-pocket for a service like Facebook and seeing ads when accessing the website. Trust me, a lot more people would complain about having to pay than do about the ads.