The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook is currently
looking into technology that will enable the social network to track the
location of a user’s cursor on their screen or interface.
The Journal noted that Facebook would not be the first
company to engage in this type of behavioral tracking as Shutterstock, a
digital image marketplace, has already done so.
The article quotes Shutterstock CEO, Jon Oringer, as saying, “Today, we
are looking at every move a user makes, in order to optimize the Shutterstock
experience.”
The potential Facebook tracking technology could collect
data on how long a user’s cursor hovers over a part of the website and whether
user’s newsfeed is visible at a specific time on the user’s mobile phone. Facebook is still in the process of testing
the technology, but the Journal reports that the company should know whether it
will be proceeding with the technology within months.
Ken Rudin, Facebook’s head of analytics, is working on
increasing the volume of the company’s available data and storing it in a way
that can be accessed more efficiently. He referred to the review of the new
technology as a “never-ending phase” noting that it will not necessarily be
rolled out.
With the knowledge that Facebook is now considering this
technology and, if it uses it, will not be the first company to do so, another
layer of behavioral tracking can be added to the myriad ways data can be
collected and used on social media platforms.
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