Facebook Is the New [Standard] Oil

There's nothing inherently wrong with "Big." But there is when they wield their power in a disproportionate or harmful way.

Man, Controller of the Universe by Diego Rivera (via Gumr51 CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)

You've heard the phrase “data is the new oil,” right?

It was first used by Clive Humby, a British mathemetician and architect of Tesco’s loyalty program called Clubcard, in 2006. He said, “It’s valuable, but if unrefined it cannot really be used.”

The phrase has been repeated many times since 2006, and most recently, many pundits have taken exception to it. The primary objection is that data is not scarce or in danger of running out, like oil is. In fact, there’s a glut of data.

But let’s pause for a moment to reflect on old oil. Or, put in another way, the origins of Big Oil.