Sir, – Breda O'Brien warns that Facebook is in the business of making money, big money ("Facebook may be liberal, but its gospel is consumerism", Opinion & Analysis, May 13th). She tells us that it tripled its net income to $1.5 billion in the first quarter of this year. Her concern, a reasonable one, is that users might be manipulated into buying products and services through Facebook's marketing techniques.
But is it that Facebook’s gospel is “consumerism”, or that Facebook’s gospel is “liberal”, that most bothers Breda O’Brien?
She writes that its “users are likely to be young, and the young generally have a liberal view of the world”, as if this were something they are expected to grow out of. She gives an example of such a liberal view (one promoted by Facebook, she says) as being “last year’s same-sex marriage referendum”.
Are we to believe that the young, who your columnist seems to expect to grow out of their “liberal” views and into a more mature adult conservatism, are largely responsible for the appalling spectacle of marriage equality in this country? And that Facebook, and its thought manipulators, rather than the wisdom of its young users, are to blame?
O’Brien continues her patronising view of young people when she concludes: “After all, when a service is free, remember something is still being sold, and in this case, it is you.” In other words, when young people embrace a view of life and relationships that she does not agree with, then they must know that they have been “sold” by unscrupulous manipulators! – Yours, etc,
DECLAN KELLY,
Dingle,
Co Kerry.