Yet another point of discussion stemming from Facebook; the New York Times reports that about 1,500 users have signed up with a service called Weblo that allows them to make money by placing ads on their profile pages.
Facebook have said before that they don't want a "free for all" on the site, and don't allow users to sell ads on their pages. That sounds a bit rich, of course, when the site has that massive $15bn valuation built entirely on the power it can leverage from all our personal data.
I've been thinking for some time now that web users will inevitably become increasingly aware of the value of their own data and more keen to tap that somehow. Doesn't that seem fair?
Giving a financial incentive to users who create and post content has its own set of issues, not least verifying that data and making sure advertisers aren't offended by inappropriate content; remember that whole BNP controversy.
Source: New York Times
Technorati Tags: Facebook, Weblo
