Thinking twice about Facebook scholarship offers

Scholarships with a single click? Think again. As the days of blogging continue to thrive, new features have been added to enhance the experience of social networking – for better or for worse. Companies like Facebook have derived new ways to keep users drawn to their computer screens by filtering advertisements to target the user. Some of the most recent advertisements target college students. These ads appear to be promising scholarship opportunities.
For most college students, the idea of a $10,000 scholarship is rather appealing, particularly at USD, where tuition is always on the rise.  “Essentially these are drawings, not true scholarships, not according to my personal definition anyway,” StraightForward Media CEO Josh Barsch said.
So what is the problem with free money? The websites that “award” the scholarship money typically have a small box that you must check before submitting your information, which allows the website to share your personal information by selling it to other companies.  For social networking companies, the longer we stay online, the more we click around, and the greater the profit.  Some argue that these companies are taking advantage of the naïve users, especially when entering personal information into scholarship websites with the possibility of sharing important information.
The truth is that many of the appealing scholarship opportunities that appear on social networking sites such as Facebook are merely companies that appear as credible as the weightloss supplements and diets that appear.  These companies have no direct relationship with the social networking company itself, except for means of profit and advertisement.
Since the addition of the “Like” button, Facebook users have the ability to share their support for certain advertisements.  This not only filters future advertisements that users may encounter, but it also shares their “Likes” with other Facebook friends.
For networking users who are unaware of these types of marketing strategies, the advertisements are subtle enough to intrigue anyone.  
It is not a coincidence that the more a user begins to “Like” particular advertisements, the more these advertisements reappear, or advertisements that are similar to them.  The advertisement sponsors are trying to reach a targeted audience.
Avid Facebook user Michelle Wang admits, “I didn’t know that Facebook had such capabilities until about a year ago.  Even though it’s somewhat alarming, it can also be helpful depending on what you ‘Like.’”
Wang is right, however when entering personal information be aware that your information may not be safe, especially information that scholarship companies may be collecting.  
It is important to determine whether there is an actual scholarship fund, or whether the company is solely trying to make a profit from your information. Be mindful when you check a box with small print, that these companies have the ability to sell your information to other websites, which creates a large pool of solicitors, or more harmful, the prospect of identity theft.