[Process Post 9] Monetization and Data

The topic this week is all about monetization and knowing the audience from the data level. What this means for you or me is vastly different.

Often, we hear about monetization, or demonetization often from YouTube creators. This is either a mistake or a legitimate copyright strike.

My Take on Data Trails

I think we leave those footprints everywhere we are. Whether it is the small interactions we have with people day-to-day or in our environment. When it is put into the front-center (if it is at all), but technology and platforms draw attention to it, it becomes an interesting conversation. Being meta-aware of data trails online raises the prompt and question of this process post this week.

By being out in the public, we are exposed to various types of data trails such as security cameras. In the podcast by Pod Academy in 2016, they mention that there are up to 5.9 million closed circuit television cameras in the UK. In some countries in Asia, the CCTV cameras are incredibly helpful with investigations. The point is that we are exposed to data being left by our own presence.

A personal anecdote is this house on a street I walk by daily where they have a camera facing the main street. I always wonder how I am on the camera, how I didn’t technically allow to be filmed, but it is facing their lawn. (I know it captures me because the light on its sensor turns on).

The prompts: What is your personal feeling about data trails? Do you try to minimize your footprint, or have you thrown in the towel?

I think it is a balancing act. The short answer: You cannot completely avoid it if you want to be online, but you can be aware and take steps to act upon with the data control given.

Whether this is the ‘control’ settings of accounts and data personalization options which are being offered. Personally, it is going through the settings and checking the fine print before moving onwards. Legitimate pop-ups are minor roadblocks we skip before getting our desired accounts, but often times they may have valuable information or decisions with parts of our data.

This is especially relevant with apps on our phones as we “give permission” like our camera for certain apps like Snapchat. Ultimately, my perception to this is that it often requires more effort on our part to exert more control. Most of the time, it is taking that extra effort to read, contemplate, digest the words we just read and choose before moving to the next thing.

The question I consider often is what is the path that our data goes through?

You see, a message/photo could briefly travel between nations because of the data centers located there before heading back to the device in Canada.

This highlights the point where some situations are not within our control per se, even if we had the option to ‘control’ it in the settings.

Depending on the role and our situation, we can be more aware about our data. As I work with my university in my co-op role, I have to take steps to ensure student data remains secure where it should be. If there happens to be platforms used where data is stored elsewhere, I would have a disclaimer to include about data.

My Site, Data, Monetization

Briefly, for the remainder of the Fall 2022 term, I do not plan to add advertisements to my site. I do not think it would fit into the careful design and aesthetic I have been building towards.

Before I just say NO and leaving it at that, I want to discuss further additional points. First, the need for advertisements (or rationale) is understandable. The domain and hosting of the site costs money. Whether this is maintained or not, it does require some degree of funding. This may change as domains may become more expensive or databases require more storage to operate.

For the reason of Publishing 101, I do not see the need for it. However, there is a need to be transparent in the “if” world. In Tom Bleymaier’s article about Maria Popvova’s monetization tactics, it reveals the ways that people could make money off of people’s data. Stated in the text, “Maria informed [Tom that] she doesn’t define the links in her articles as ads” because she sees them as links she would’ve included anyway. This does raise the ethical and moral concerns rather than legalities (but this is also changing).

An advertisement is easy to spot sometimes, but sponsorships may not. Some websites do have disclaimers and it is often clear that monetization is the case. However, there are some that stand between blurred lines that can be questionable. I remember coming across videos about Maria Popvova’s approach and from their perspective, it is how they make their living. It is also their decision to make the choice and risk being ‘exposed’ or risk their public image they built up as well.

Being mindful of our choices as site owners is key and how we approach monetization should be intentional and thought through.

The next time we click an Amazon link shared, it may be worth considering whether this is an affiliate link or just a web link to the item itself. It may be safer to just search it on our own. After all, it is in practice that we have more control of our data, but this always requires a little more effort.

References:

• Pod Academy. 2016. “Digital breadcrumbs: The data trail we leave behind us.” http://podacademy.org/podcasts/digital-breadcrumbs-our-data-trail/
• Tom Bleymaier. 2013.  On Advertising – Maria Popvova