Like many people, I am a big fan and user of facebook. Anything that cultivates greater social connectivity is, in my opinion, a good thing, and facebook has delivered that in spades.
However, there is one aspect of facebook that I can’t help but be bugged about, and that is, we are all working (as copywriters, photographers, and videographers) for Mark Zuckerberg . . . for free.
Well, I guess that’s not entirely true . . . we are bartering our content for use of his web site and its software. However, individual users like me come away with that bartered use, while Facebook Inc. is making over $1 billion a year in ad revenue. And to be honest, most of what people write and create visually is worth what they’re getting for it, i.e., absolute nothing. So no harm there.
Facebook functions very much like a local and national newspaper. I mean, if I want to hear the latest news and gossip, all I have to do is go to the facebook newsfeed, and there it is. It’s a newspaper with no paid editorial staff whatsoever. The readers provide the content.
I enjoy bantering with my facebook friends, but at some level, the professional writer in me is wondering if I should be getting a piece of the action. I have to tell you, I am seriously rethinking this, and considering how I can better monetize my creative output than by putting it out where Mr. Zuckerberg can insert an ad in it and make all the money.
© Justin Locke
