Facebook. A beautiful idea turned into a nightmare.

Social networks arose with the need to communicate regardless of the distance. People from all over the world would have the possibility to share experiences and emotions through their mobile devices, laptops and other devices. An idea really taken from a science fiction movie, something innovative at the time...

With the appearance of the Internet in the 80s, online messaging services such as emails began to be implemented, making the idea of ​​maintaining communication through text messages a reality regardless of the distance, although it was all a very complex system. Basic and empty of entertainment or emotions however, all this changed significantly with the appearance of Facebook in 2004 which changed the rules of the game and with it, the way in which we currently communicate through the Internet.

All this computer revolution occurred despite the fact that social networks at that time were something quite limited and simple, due in many cases to the existing technology and the little knowledge that was possessed about it. Facebook had marked the way forward.

Over the years, the users of this company have increased, as well as the number of users on the new platforms that have emerged, and with it the economic interest. The managers of Facebook realized that creating free online messaging services where people not only shared messages but also photos and videos was not profitable so they launched the "free" services but with one condition or rather several...

Up to this point everything is fine. Let us remember that in societies with capitalist economic systems, people offer a service and charge for it. Nobody offers a "free" service as many make us believe, everything in life has a price. Sometimes it is paid with money, other times with information or even with life itself.

The beautiful idea of ​​keeping millions of people connected to each other turned into a nightmare when the big companies running the business. I'm talking about Facebook, Amazon, Google, among others, began to manipulate and sell our information to third parties without a court order or particular permission from each individual who uses these platforms, that is, all of us.

Justice does not apply to the world elite.

Regardless of the way in which one tries to defend the position adopted by Facebook and its main director and creator Mark Zuckerberg in the face of the accusations that have arisen as a result of the practices that this company currently carries out regarding the policies of use and privacy of the users of this platform, it is a crime and illegal to sell their information to third parties. 

It is impossible for a virtual platform like this to earn so many millions a year only through the promotion and sponsorship of brands or companies, as Zuckerberg admitted in the trial where he was accused held several years ago. Anyone with a minimum of reasoning can understand the lie that the aforementioned approach represents because we all know that the most valuable thing today is information. Worst of all, there are so many people involved in these crimes that the probability of justice being served is almost non-existent due to the media power that all these people possess.

In some point, I kind of understand Zuckerberg blatantly lying to the press in order to protect investors and the market value of his company but what about us customers? My data is my property and I do not allow any company to sell it to third parties so that they can later influence or determine my behavior.

How does the manipulation of our personal data affect our lives?

These complex artificial intelligence systems work by collecting our information and creating patterns of behavior that will then determine our behavior, and however crazy it may seem, it works and does it perfectly. It is a constant monitoring carried out by these systems to know what we do, what we like, where we go, with whom we meet and thus determine who we are. All these patterns help these companies to create personalized content aimed especially at each of us in order to make us make personal decisions at their convenience. We live at a point in our lives where our rights have been violated so many times by all these digital platforms that we don't realize it, we don't pay attention because it has become something "normal" and that is precisely what they want.

To build a society, you must first destroy it.

Many will think that I am paranoid but I dare say that this is precisely what these multi-million dollar companies plan or want. Create a new society where they control everything and where Freedom is just another word in the dictionary. 

Free societies are capable of changing the course of their history. They fear that people will take control and direction of their lives and return to their human social nature. I say this because the current social networks are not what they claim to be, they are just a business where the last thing that is done in them is to socialize.

Divide and conquer.

I have mentioned this phrase many times in my previous articles because I come from a country where a government Dictatorship has reigned for more than 60 years and it has been precisely this, the work method that has allowed a group of people to take control of an entire country and practically forces its population to do what they want. By dividing and fragmenting a society, the government or any institution or company postulates itself as the solution to all problems and in this way your life ends to begin and become a slave to an ideology or the whims of a few.

Platforms like Facebook or Twitter have used their advanced algorithms to persuade large groups of the American and world population for political purposes. Whether it's presidential elections or creating social conflicts between members of different political, religious or racial groups where apathy, fear, confusion and violence are the main ingredients. All this is accompanied by censorship, which has become much more popular these days. This platform assumes that it has enough power to decide what is true or what is false. It has become the "online judges" and only they have the absolute truth, a clear threat to Democracy and Freedom of Expression!

Can monopolies like Facebook, Google or Amazon really be brought to justice?

There is no governmental or public entity to which these companies honestly explain the way in which their users' personal information is used; instead, they always lie, arguing that the collection system of these is too advanced and complex a system that neither they themselves are capable of understanding argument which I consider vague and immoral.

You don't need to be a programmer to realize that the system for the collection and use of personal data used by most of these companies is a monitored system of which they have exact and precise knowledge or you believe that a system that generates billions dollars a year would be at the mercy of a robot? I am sure not.

These companies know everything about us, they see and hear us every single day, they know our friends, where we live, what time we sleep or wake up, they have full access to our data and we allow it to be so when we accept their usage policies but what we do not accept is the use that they give to them without our prior consent.

Social media is addictive on purpose.

A real social network would be if it were paid. A payment system free of algorithms and unwanted promotions. I prefer to pay for an application in which I decide what to do rather than use an application that sells my information, violating my privacy in this way, does not give me explanations about it and forces me to see content that they believe will be to my liking.

Current social networks can be improved so as not to be so addictive for users, but that is not the case. Everything has an influence so that a person feels attracted to a product, the color, the way of writing, the interface... Everything is analyzed and implemented by a group of people who know very well what they are doing. These people do the impossible to keep us as long as possible in front of our portable devices, thus obtaining the information they need to sell it later.

People like Mark Zuckerberg should be brought before a court and tried for theft among other charges. These people are licensed criminals violating all existing laws and that is exactly what is happening. It's funny because the world's largest technology companies that engage in these practices are based in the United States of America. The country supposed defender of Freedom and Human Rights, the policeman who monitors the world order, the vigilante who subdues the aggressor.

Is the USA violating its own Constitution, by not taking action and doing justice in cases like this, or is the Government also involved? I deeply believe so. I think there are too many connections between managers of all these companies and members of the Government. We are alone in this fight, the Government does not protect us, we must protect ourselves.

There are no such social networks as many claim. The real social network exists in your neighborhood where the person who knows something about you knows it because he saw you doing something or you told him something about yourself and not because he have hired a private detective to watch you 24 hours a day which it is precisely what Facebook among others large digital platforms does.