The Facebook Prison Experiment

[Commentary] Guess what, a lot of people are trying to influence your thoughts and feelings all the time. A partial list would include, yes, Silicon Valley technologists, but also advertisers, marketers, politicians, artists of all types, editorialists and every Facebook user ever, not to mention parents, significant others, friends, coworkers and the noisy guy three barstools over. The reality of the information age is that we all have less expectation of privacy, though the upsides may be better interpersonal connection as well as new insights into human endeavors from relationships to retail to epidemiology. But if you're seeking an unmediated social experience, there's an easy solution: Get off Facebook.