How Advertising Can Lead to an Economic Crash

Advertising has been drastically altered in the digital age by social media. By gathering mass amounts of data on people we have been able to identify how to more effectively market to them. This has been very beneficial for businesses, they can direct their advertising budgets to marketing towards people that will actually buy their products instead of to the general public. This allows niche markets and businesses to thrive. It is reported that this comes at a cost of privacy, but most personally identifiable information is supposed to be removed from data collection and sharing. I am not nearly as concerned about the potential loss of privacy as I am of the push for consumerism. Individuals using social media are being bombarded by advertisements specifically targeted toward them. This pushes the drive to have the newest and greatest items of desire instead of spending responsibly. The economy can only survive through people spending money but if we don’t spend responsibly then an economic crash is inevitable.