system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
I don't think it's a big deal that things like google and facebook make money off of telling advertisers what I like. CMV

As said above, When people go on their rants about "the googles are telling advertisers what I watch!" I couldn't care less. I just don't think it's a big deal. There's plenty of ups that I feel people aren't thinking about, and are mostly just complaining based solely off of principle.

Positives that I think are worth it:

* With ads tailored to me, I *MIGHT* just see an ad for something I care about
* Selling this information to advertisers allows these companies to continue to be profitable/viable without charging me money.
* they're not selling your social security number or your credit card information, just a list of things you've bought on amazon, mostly harmless shit.

Alternatives that are bad (imo):

* these services go away
* these services start charging
* these services start running with a bunch of ads (banners/pop-ups)
* these services start selling information that matters, but in a more clandestine fashion (i.e. phone numbers and credit card info)

In general I feel like people who complain about this think far too highly of themselves. Even if companies or the government *is* watching, what makes you think they care?

Per my usual joke when this gets brought up with friends:
>"But they're selling your information!"

>"Ha! Joke's on them! My information is worthless!"

EDIT: Damn, top post all the sudden. I'm trying to be very active in here but work actually started making me work (pft, I know right?). I'll do my best to read and respond to everyone afterwards. Please keep in mind that in many of my posts I'm having to reiterate that I'm arguing the current implementation of information gathering/selling. I'm not arguing that I'd idly sit by in a 1984 event. Also on that same vein, I'm mostly talking private corporations, not the government. Thanks and keep debating! This has been super interesting!
gpt
Perhaps selling it to advertisers is mostly harmless, but is there any guarantee that advertisers are the only people interested in buying your information? 

What if it were sold to your life insurance provider, who in turn raised your rate because they found a picture of you smoking a celebratory cigar at a wedding? 

What if an online store you frequent already knows what things you like, but goes searching for information outside of their own records to determine just *how much* you'd be able or willing to pay for them?

What if your information is being used not to customize what you see, but rather in an attempt to *prevent* you from seeing certain things? What if Amazon were to score users based on the general harshness of their product reviews, then provide its vendors with the option to exclude the toughest critics from seeing their products in the "recommended for you" section? 

What if a company is ordered, as part of a class action lawsuit settlement, to make an attempt at contacting consumers to notify them they are eligible for monetary compensation...and deliberately chooses to satisfy that requirement using the mode of communication its customers monitor least frequently?