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Facebook Advertising Businesses

New Facebook Video Controls Let You Limit Viewing By Gender and Age 90

Posted by samzenpus from the for-your-eyes-only dept.
Mark Wilson writes: Videos on Facebook are big business. As well as drugged up post-dentist footage, there is also huge advertising potential. Now Facebook has announced a new set of options for video publishers — including the ability to limit who is able to see videos based on their age and gender. A social network might not be the first place you would think of to try to keep something private, but a new 'secret video' option makes it possible to restrict access to those people who have a direct link. Other new options include the ability to prevent embedding on other sites, but it is the audience restriction settings that are particularly interesting. For a long time Facebook has been about reaching out to as many people as possible in one hit — particularly in the case of pages, which are likely to be used for the promotion of businesses and services. But now the social giant provides tools to limit one's audience. It's fairly easy to understand the reasons for implementing age restrictions on video (although there is obviously scope for abuse), but the reasons for gender-based restrictions are less clear.
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New Facebook Video Controls Let You Limit Viewing By Gender and Age More

New Facebook Video Controls Let You Limit Viewing By Gender and Age

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  • Drama is coming. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ZorinLynx ( 31751 ) on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @06:41PM (#50164719) Homepage

    I predict that men will whine that they can't see videos set so that only women can see them.

    I predict the women who posted the above videos will whine if men post videos set so only men can see them, saying it's sexist, while not realizing the hypocrisy.

    I predict SJWs will whine that this somehow doesn't include transgendered people.

    I predict that I will sit back with a big tub of popcorn and enjoy the hilarious drama.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by mysidia ( 191772 )

      I predict that men will whine that they can't see videos set so that only women can see them.

      Owing to this new change to Facebook.... I have decided to change the Gender in my profile from "Male" to "Both" or from "Male" to "It's complicated"

      Next, in case they block me from seeing any videos based on that anyways..... I intend to file a lawsuit against Facebook for discrimination against LGBT people.

    • And Parents will whine when their children post videos set so that nobody over 18 can view them.

      • And then again when they find out how their kids found out how to circumvent the restrictions of videos nobody under 18 should be able to view.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by segin ( 883667 )
          They'll blame the bronies; after all, who's old enough to acquire porn and would be willing to trade it for access to a children's cartoon?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by RedK ( 112790 )

      No no no, you got it wrong. Now I can post videos of my Bros, doing Bro-y things so that other Bros can like it, and "high five" comment it, without any women being forced at gun point to watch and then make a Facebook rant about how Bros will be Bros and how they should all be jailed 5 miles underground for it.

      Because "if you don't like it, don't watch it" is literally impossible you know.

  • I'm probably not going to be interested in any videos that target my 90 year old Two-Spirit facebook avatar, but it will make for some fun stares when I check facebook while waiting for the kids to exhaust themselves in the local jump-o-rama

  • Age floor only, or ceiling and floor? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Pfhorrest ( 545131 ) on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @06:42PM (#50164735) Homepage Journal

    The talk of gender-related limits made me think of teenage boys and girls in their isolated cliques wanting to share things only with other teenage boys or girls, and in light of that a possible use of age-related limits struck me: if you can set an age ceiling as well, this could be used by kids to hide things from adults, not just by adults to hide age-inappropriate things from kids.

    • It's something like a form of censorship. The internet supports that, right?

    • I'm going to restrict my channel of "How to Get Kids Off Your Lawn" tutorial videos to retirement age and up.

      Course, my series "Three Seconds of Your Favorite Rap Song, Ten Hours of 20KHz Sine Wave" will be 18 and under.

    • I suspect that the floor is for official marketing and the ceiling is the real marketing.

      Since teenagers don't use Facebook anymore, because all of us old farts are there, this might be a way of trying to get the teenies back.

  • I predict online personalities will be willing to prevaricate around gender and age restricting bylaws.

  • Are you sure this isn't just ad targeting? (Score:3)

    by Sowelu ( 713889 ) on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @06:53PM (#50164769)

    They talk about videos being big business right there. If you're going to pay them $$$ for "promoting" your posts, then controlling who you promote them to is...kind of obvious, isn't it?

    I mean, promoting on FB isn't the same as a full advertising suite. It's almost more like blackmail. If you have enough followers, then they stop showing your posts to all of them unless you give Facebook money. As a halfway step between promoting and full targeted advertising, this makes total sense.

    • This.

      If I'm promoting Axe Body Spray For Uber Bros why do I want a bunch of wasted ad impressions on women?

  • What a great idea.. (Score:3)

    by Simulant ( 528590 ) on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @07:02PM (#50164813) Journal
    Share your secrets on facebook. What could possibly go wrong?

    • Ashley Madison... (not really an issue yet other than for the site, but it is the nuclear option regarding privacy and the internet, it's DEFCON-1, WOPR says you shouldn't have played...).

  • What is this "Facebook"? Is that the thing where people post pictures of what they're having for dinner?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sowelu ( 713889 )

      The way people I know use it, it's just a useful tool for organizing events.

    • You're probably thinking of Instragram. Facebook is the thing where people send out short-length messages to the rest of the world.

      • I thought Instagram is the duckface selfie social network. Facebook is where your old high school acquaintance posts his daily deranged political rants and slowly kills your faith in humanity and democracy, a little every day.

    • Is that the thing where people post pictures of what they're having for dinner?

      Yeah but only after it came out again through the back door.

  • It's the Money, Stupid (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Every time a man sees an ad written with women in mind, or vice versa, somebody somewhere has spent some tiny fraction of a cent sub-optimally.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by epyT-R ( 613989 )

      All advertising is targeted at the female ego nowadays. Even commercials selling to men frame the message in terms of what women will think (those horrible fiber one ads come to mind). Very few if any products are sold 'to' men directly.

      You'll almost NEVER see ads like this on TV, given current political narratives in the media
      https://www.youtube.com/v/5ZqX... [youtube.com]

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DarkOx ( 621550 )

        selling to men frame the message in terms of what women will think

        That isn't new. Advertisers discovered pretty early on men want sex, and that if you can convince men the product will in even the most obscure weakly connected way possibly lead to sex they will buy it.

        That is like the oldest and most basic rule in all of marketing.

      • That's a poor commercial, but not for the reasons your thinking ...

        * Man makes a big purchase, doesn't communicate to his partner until after the fact; nor get her input on whether they can actually afford it
        * Women throws a temper tantrum and disrespects his things by breaking them.

        It is a crappy add because both genders were immature and stupid.

        The focus should be about the *joys* of the car -- not about the disharmony it "creates."

  • Ha! (Score:2)

    by SeaFox ( 739806 )

    Wait 'till they get a hold of the 23andMe data [slashdot.org] from yesterday.

  • Laugh (Score:1)

    by koan ( 80826 )

    Why not by race too?

    Neo-Liberalism destroys nations.

  • >> limit who is able to see videos based on their age and gender

    How the hell is this supposed to work with transgender options that pretty much let anybody identify as anybody?

    Is Facebook getting another filter ready to screen in and out by skin tone and eye color too?

  • This is pretty silly. The gender restrictions will probably have to go, because it will be hyper lulzy if they don't.

  • What about the MPAA/RIAA (Score:3)

    by Actually, I do RTFA ( 1058596 ) on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @11:15PM (#50165725)

    Facebook video is already filled with copyright infringement from YouTube channels [slate.com], where rebranded content is being posted. The rebranding of content, plus the limited lifespan of most videos plus the inability to find it publicly, are causing pain in the "YouTube Star" group.

    How is the MPAA/RIAA/Whomever going to deal with Facebook facilitating massive copyright infringement? I mean, it's one thing to share a fairly powerless guy's content with 20 million followers, get caught and just have to remove it. But when I want to see a movie my friend has, so he just posts it so only I can see it...?

    Given how Facebook is trying to make most people's whole internet experience solely based on their servers,t his is the one time I'm hoping the MPAA can make a ton of trouble for someone.

    • An entity as important as the MPAA can certainly arrange to see some "private" videos. Of course only to ensure they can protect their rights.

  • Not for users? (Score:5, Funny)

    by j1976 ( 618621 ) on Thursday July 23, 2015 @02:25AM (#50166093)

    When I read the title, I though this was a function for users rather than publishers. As in "From now on I only want to see videos of girls in the age span 19-24".

  • But fear not (Score:3)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Thursday July 23, 2015 @04:06AM (#50166339)

    The pervs at your favorite three letter agency still get to see what they want, profiled by whatever they see fit.

  • More ways to alienate ourselves from each other. More protection for our views. Another place to ignore people on the internet and wonder why we feel so lonely. Mankind is already proficient at dividing ourselves. I predict this technology will only speed the separation even more. If people retreat into their own little conclaves they only get more radical and more insular. The longer we go on shielding ourselves from views we disagree with or running from the criticisms of our own deeply held beliefs

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