Sample Creative Writing On Lab Rats

The article is about Facebook and other private websites “performing experiments” on users unbeknownst to those users. The author questions the ethics of those who perform those experiments. She points out one experiment in which Facebook seemed to effectively manipulate users’ emotions by exposing them to positive or negative news. Facebook users posted positive or negative updates consistent with the ones that they were shown. Facebook essentially “proved” that people pick up others’ emotions, or that emotions are contagious. This experiment was not so much as breaking news as much as it was proof to advertisers that Facebook is a huge influencer of people. The author questions the ethics of such studies, which are done without the consent of the participants.
Apparently, this manner of experiment is not just a Facebook thing and did not happen only one time. Dating sites such as OkCupid have performed such tests as well as many large corporations. Corporations use various data, much of which comes from websites like Facebook, to discover buying trends and even manipulate buyers’ decisions. Companies will collect information that you provide freely on websites such as Facebook or through searches on search engines such as Google. They use this data to figure out what sorts of items you will be interested in buying. They then send catalogs to you according to what these studies show you will be interested in buying. Companies even partner with Facebook to suggestively sell items appropriate for your interest. All of this is made possible because Facebook users check the “Terms and Conditions” box allowing their data to be collected.
Overall, most of the article does not seem to be all that concerning. Although phrases such as “studies done without the consent of those studied” or “websites experimenting on users” seem scary and Orwellian, they are not as scary as they seem. The article’s language has one picturing Facebook employees capturing people in unmarked vans and whisking them off to human-experiment labs. In reality, Facebook is watching what you do their site in order to better sell advertising that pertains to you individually. Yes, such power can be abused. Is it in this case? I don’t think so. My dad doesn’t have a Facebook. He is a perfectly normal human being who used to have Facebook and simply doesn’t wish to participate anymore. He is still living and working and as far as I know has not lost his mind as a result of being Facebook-free. Facebook is not a requirement of citizenship; it is just a fun thing to participate in. I do not consider a website tracking what I click and attempting to sell me products based on that information to be sinister or unethical. When I log into Facebook, I see advertisements for Nike shoes, Game of Thrones, and Lebron James. These are based on my interests and I appreciate seeing products that actually pertain to my interests.
There is such a thing as unethical studies of humans. This is not one. There is a reason they don’t show tampon commercials during football games. Yet, no one questions the ethics of Tampax for that.