How 'News Feed' feeds on us.

Ads have always been around. But lately - gradually - they've taken over the World Wide Web. I remember a time when I glorified Facebook due to it's simplistic, ad-free, almost painfully clean layout.

Luckily, it remained like that for a while. But lately - discreet as it may be - Facebook has dedicated the right side of its site to other brands. Okay - sponsored ads I'm used to. The vast majority of the social media world are bloody used to them. What choice do we have? We can't watch a 10 second YouTube clip these days without being forced to watch a 30 second pre-video ad for Libra Pads or something.

But what really makes my pet peeve growl is how specific these ads are becoming, especially on Facebook. I log on, as I do every day, and notice that these ads are freakishly appealing to me. 'Pledge to Quit!' - well okay, Facebook seems to somehow know that I'm trying. 'Sacred Witch's Heart Den'. Well, that seems interesting. Especially because my religious status on Facebook is listed as 'Wiccan'. And then I get an ad from Commonwealth - 'Can your bank keep your savings flexible? CommBank can.' Hang on a minute. Just the other day I left a comment on my friend's wall. Something about being broke, and constantly having to dip into my savings account.

Call me paranoid, but I'm seeing a pattern here. Facebook appears to be tracking people's individual details - whether it be from page likes, status updates, photos or general profile information.

Lately I've read a number of articles on the topic of how social media giants, such as Facebook, are exploiting their power within the industry to produce marketing material for their clients. This year, we are seeing more and more advertising content and commercials appear on many of these sites as companies move more and more into the world of advertising and marketing through social media. Sites such as Twitter are actually revamping their website in order to suit the needs of advertisers. Twitter is making deals with big names such as Pepsi and offering them promotions such as self-serve ads and banners which will display across the entire Twittersphere. Oh, and they're also offering our right to privacy  by seemingly exploiting a very specific demographic about their users. Well done, guys. I'm sure the big guys must really love you now.

So continue liking things, Tweeting away and posting interesting photographs of your cereals onto Instagram or whatever cool social media website you're using. Just keep in mind that it's not necessarily your own status that's being updated, but an entire army of advertisers who are burning to feed on your news - literally. Ah, you gotta love the puns.

-Dahlia