The Era of Free Social Media Is Over

Cost of entry is no longer just your attention

Image: Badly edited by author

If the product is free, you are the product.

It’s the defining phrase of the current era of social media. It’s the idea that because we aren’t paying to use the service, we, the users, are the product. The cost of entry is not monetary; it’s our eyeballs and our attention. As we scroll, tap and…