The Rules of Contagion

(Greg DeLong) #1

  1. Facebook ad revenue per user in the US and Canada was $30
    in Q1 2019, which would suggest $120 per annum. If users are
    worth 60 per cent less without browser data, it implies average
    data value of (at least) $120 x 0.6 = $72. Estimates from:
    Facebook Q1 2019 Results, http://investor.fb.com; Johnson G.A.
    et al., ‘Consumer Privacy Choice in Online Advertising: Who Opts
    Out and at What Cost to Industry?’, Simon Business School
    Working paper, 2017; Leswing K., Apple makes billions from
    Google’s dominance in search – and it’s a bigger business than
    iCloud or Apple Music’, Business Insider, 29 September 2018;
    Bell K., ‘iPhone’s user base to surpass 1 billion units by 2019’,
    Cult of Mac, 8 February 2017.

  2. Pandey E. and Parker S., ‘Facebook was designed to exploit
    human “vulnerability”’, Axios, 9 November 2017.

  3. Kafka P., ‘Amazon? HBO? Netflix thinks its real competitor is...
    sleep’, Vox, 17 April 2017.

  4. Background on design from: Harris T., ‘How Technology is
    Hijacking Your Mind – from a Magician and Google Design
    Ethicist’, Medium, 18 May 2016.

  5. Bajarin B., ‘Apple’s Penchant for Consumer Security’,
    Tech.pinions, 18 April 2016.

  6. Pandey E. and Parker S., ‘Facebook was designed to exploit
    human “vulnerability”’, Axios, 9 November 2017.

  7. Although now a central feature of social media, the ‘like’ button
    originated in a very different online era. Source: Locke M., ‘How
    Likes Went Bad’, Medium, 25 April 2018.

  8. Lewis P. ‘“Our minds can be hijacked”: the tech insiders who
    fear a smartphone dystopia’, Guardian, 6 October 2017.

  9. ‘Who can see the comments on my Moments posts?’, WeChat
    Help Center, October 2018.

  10. Background on censorship from: King G. et al., ‘Reverse-
    engineering censorship in China: Randomized experimentation

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