"Conspiracy" has numerous definitions. Simply put, it's an agreement
between two or more persons to engage in evil, unlawful, treacherous, or
subversive acts for their personal gain. The words "conspiracy theory"
carry heavy connotative weight and they're often applied when a business
or governmental agency is suspected of being up to no good.
So
when it was revealed that Facebook, the leading social network company,
was implicated in a conspiracy to push negative press about Google, a
ripple of surprise went through the digital community. What would prompt
Facebook to stoop so low as to hire a PR firm to pitch news articles
falsely accusing Google of privacy violations, and subtly pushing for
investigations by federal authorities? Whispered rumors of Facebook's
involvement in the relatively minor PR scandal turned out to be true. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870373080457632118205890...)
Facebook
did in fact hire PR firm Burnson-Marsteller to do a little dirty work.
And it all came to light when a slightly irritated blogger, who had been
pitched a Google-bashing story by the PR firm, published the email
exchange. For a couple of days, Facebook lagged in obscurity until it
was clear that they would have to admit some involvement.
Facebook
defended its actions, admitting that they were a bit underhanded, but
they wanted to let the public know that Google was using data from
Facebook users and that it could be a possible violation of privacy --
pretty lofty for a company that has come under fire numerous times for
their own infringements of individuals' privacy. (http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/04/report-facebook-ceo-mark-zucke...)
Exactly what are these privacy violations that Facebook
is so concerned about? Apparently, Google's new social-networking
platform, Social Circle, sometimes makes use of Facebook content in its
secondary connections section. Industry experts honed in on the conspiracy
the minute Facebook came clean basically saying Facebook is threatened
by Google's foray into the social-networking arena, and this was their
not-so-slick attempt at corporate espionage. (http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-05-12/facebook-bu...)
We
live in a society of constant competition, and as such are surrounded
by reports of covert and shady business dealings. Most of the time, the
conspiracies are strictly for financial benefit. You don't have to look
far to find numerous documentaries and exposes exploring and revealing
these truths. The food industry is conspiring against us to maintain our
business as repeat customers even if the inclusion of food additives is
killing us; the medical industry conspires to keep us heavily medicated
on drugs that often do more harm than good. All around us, companies,
industries and governmental agencies conspire against us for their
monetary gain.
Conspiracies have been around since biblical
times. Remember Jacob? He conspired with his mom to rob Esau of his
patriarchal blessing. Yet we tend to have a love/hate relationship with conspiracy theories:
We are either extremely skeptical or very willing to attest to its
probability. While jumping on every conspiracy bandwagon might classify
you as a paranoid "conspiracy theorist", ignoring well-documented and
proven truths based on subtle and not-so-subtle PR spins is, to a
certain degree, hiding out from reality.
For example, many
accusations previously labeled "conspiracy theories" have been verified
as true, including the existence of the mafia and their extensive
political and corporate ties; Nixon's participation in Watergate and his
direct involvement in the infiltration of the Democratic National
Headquarters (which he steadily denied); and even the CIA connection to drug running in Los Angeles. (http://www.newworldorderreport.com/News/tabid/266/ID/980/33-Conspirac...)
We
don't need to be a society that sees intrigue and scheming at every
turn, but we do need to be aware of the deceit that exist around us.
Additional Sources:
1. http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=31137
2. http://www.world-mysteries.com/marijuana1.htm
3. http://conspiracyrealitytv.com/poison-on-the-platter-genetically-modi...
4. http://volokh.com/posts/1231193259.shtml
5. http://www.gotquestions.org/Jacob-and-Esau.html
6.http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9216666/Facebook_Google_cold_w...
