{"id":3462,"date":"2018-04-12T16:30:33","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T20:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/?p=3462"},"modified":"2022-12-13T10:08:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T15:08:15","slug":"social-media-affects-housing-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/12\/social-media-affects-housing-decisions\/","title":{"rendered":"Social media and housing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"social<\/a>
Social media (infographic from dustn.tv)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You should have already realized that all of your internet activity, such as social media, search engines, etc., leaves your digital fingerprints.\u00a0 In today\u2019s interconnected world, you should assume your online profile, pictures and posts become the intellectual property of the online entities you use .\u00a0 So, it should not faze you that Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress<\/a> this week because of ongoing privacy concerns.\u00a0 This week\u2019s congressional dog and pony show will most likely not reveal much.\u00a0 Nor is it expected to change social media\u2019s influence on the public.<\/p>\n

Does social media really affect your opinions and decision making?\u00a0 Maybe.<\/p>\n

Content providers have been criticized for deciding what people view through alleged censorship.\u00a0 Besides your online social interactions and connections, the ads you see can also influence your opinions and behavior.\u00a0 Consider Facebook\u2019s targeted advertising system, which has been criticized for violating the Fair Housing Act<\/a>.\u00a0 A recent lawsuit alleges that certain groups are being discriminated against because advertisers can target ads based on age, gender, disability, family status, among other criteria (see Facebook Vowed to End Discriminatory Housing Ads. Suit Says It <\/em>Didn\u2019t; nytimes.com\/2018\/03\/27\/nyregion\/facebook-housing-ads-discrimination-lawsuit.html).<\/p>\n

In the internet<\/a> age, data collection is big business.\u00a0 Data collection allows marketing firms to target classes with their clients\u2019 products and opinions.\u00a0 Content providers have not only been criticized for collecting volumes of personal data, but also for manipulating search results<\/a> and viewable content.\u00a0 As it turns out, the FANGs (a collective term used for content providers, such as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google) not only collect your data but can influence your opinions and behavior.\u00a0 Especially when it comes to buying or renting a home.<\/p>\n

You can surmise that real estate content providers (such as Zillow and Realtor.com) shape your opinions too!\u00a0 They publish opinions and research about the housing market.\u00a0\u00a0 They also can influence your choice of real estate professionals.\u00a0 They promote agents<\/a> who pay for placements on their sites to get consumer leads.\u00a0 These real estate professionals touted as \u201clocal experts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social media influences housing decisions<\/h2>\n

A landmark study found direct evidence of social media\u2019s impact on real estate choices.\u00a0 The 2017 study by Baily, Cao, Kuchler, and Stroebel<\/a> (The Economic Effects of Social Networks: Evidence from the Housing Market<\/em>; July 4, 2017; Available at SSRN: dx.doi.org\/10.2139\/ssrn.2753881) used Facebook data to explore the multiplicity of individuals\u2019 social networks, and then analyzed the effects of people\u2019s interactions on their housing decisions.<\/p>\n

They found that, indeed, social media does influence decisions on housing.\u00a0 The research suggests that social media influences a person\u2019s housing market expectations. When friends experience home price increases, home buyers will pay more for a home and\/or buy a larger home. Additionally, renters are more likely to buy a home.\u00a0 Likewise, when friends experience \u201cless positive house price changes,\u201d home sellers are more likely to accept a lower sale price.\u00a0 The data also indicates that people will consider real estate an appealing investment when friends experience large home price increases.<\/p>\n

The authors acknowledged that although this study examined social media\u2019s influence on real estate outcomes, they suggest that effect is broader and can be applied to other subject matter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Content providers wield great power.\u00a0 They manipulate news feeds via algorithms.\u00a0 They can also decide who they can ban from their sites<\/a>. \u00a0 It\u2019s clear that social media\u2019s influence goes beyond data collection.\u00a0 It\u2019s not only the social interaction among your connections that affect your opinions and behaviors.\u00a0 It\u2019s also the paid ads and promoted opinions that appear alongside your friends\u2019 posts that solidify expectations and opinions as gospel.<\/p>\n

By Dan Krell
\nCopyright \u00a9 2018<\/p>\n

If you like this post, do not copy; instead please:
\nlink to the article<\/a>,
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\"Protected<\/a>Disclaimer<\/a>. This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Readers should not rely solely on the information contained herein, as it does not purport to be comprehensive or render specific advice. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding local real estate laws and customs as they vary by state and jurisdiction. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You should have already realized that all of your internet activity, such as social media, search engines, etc., leaves your digital fingerprints.\u00a0 In today\u2019s interconnected world, you should assume your online profile, pictures and posts become the intellectual property of the online entities you use .\u00a0 So, it should not faze you that Facebook founder … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Social media and housing”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[383,24,99,13,1089],"tags":[913,804,845,797,1090],"class_list":["post-3462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consumer","category-internet","category-privacy","category-real-estate","category-social-media","tag-consumer","tag-internet","tag-privacy","tag-real-estate","tag-social-media"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1VZLf-TQ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3462"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6575,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3462\/revisions\/6575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}