Brana Hardway: Post #4

Albuquerque Journal 9/4/09
"Need Facebook Friends? Buy Some"
By: Rachel Metz
This article describes the new company called "uSocial" that tries to get potential customers for businesses via facebook friend requests. The way the Australian company works is that for a cost of about $200 a business can purchase 1000 Facebook friends or 5000 for $727. It is assumed by this company that social networking sites more quickly and efficiently get news and information out than basic advertising. This company chooses the friends it will sell based on what business their client has and then finds information on potential customers like their interests and information they want to know about and match them to the company based on these measures. Based on these factors, certain people become target customers for the businesses receiving "uSocial" services.
I think this article is related to social control because it shows how greatly we fall subject to surveillance. It illuminates how we leave a "digital trail" behind us that exposes all of our digital transactions and personal information to be viewed by several organizations and individuals alike. The idea of the politics of surveillance is a fairly new emergence that describes how the use of our data is used to classify us and categorize us into demographic groups. Because our most intimate information from physical characteristics to our social security number to our economic transactions can be accessed, assessed and compiled through various surveillance techniques and mediums, we can become targets of interest, from FBI investigation to like in this article, target consumers.