Commodification is a process in which something that was considered as commonplace suddenly acquires value and is sold and bought. Besides the merchandise we have grown accustomed to like clothes, health products, electronic gadgets and others, more goods accumulate value.

For example, Sticky Notes was considered as a dismal product for years until people saw its value. Now, it is used at home, in schools, and in offices; it even has smartphone, tablet, laptop, and desktop versions. Text messages sent in the 1990s were originally free. Now, a text message costs a peso for those who do not avail of the unlimited text and call packages.

With the advent and eventual development of the world wide web, the process of commodification is on an unstoppable rampage. An example of this would be the commodification of personal thoughts. A simple personal thought may be a liking or disliking for a person, an event, a place and others. The popularity of social networking sites served as the primary catalyst for the commodification of personal thoughts.

These social networking sites have online advertisements sponsored by certain companies. These advertisements provide links that lead whoever clicks them to a site containing details about the products. Besides these links, these social networking sites have inherent features where the users may indicate their preference.

Facebook has a Like button that takes the form of a thumbs-up sign. Clicking this button is indicative of a person’s positive appraisal of a status, picture, video or link. Consequently, clicking this button provides other people an insight as regards the preference of an individual.

This feature is utilized by certain companies to promote their products. For example, some cable channels ask viewers to take pictures of themselves that are related to some of the programs the networks show. These pictures are posted on a network’s Facebook page. The owner of the picture that gets the most number of Likes gets to win a prize. Some clothing companies even ask Facebook users to select the designs that would be incorporated in the products. A host of beauty products for men and women advertise their Facebook page and ask people to like them. Moreover, companies create sponsored pages related to their products. These pages may be availed of for a certain amount. Facebook users get to vote on items related to these products.

On the other hand, on Twitter, a micro-blogging site, companies rely on hash tags and the online phenomenon of trending to promote their products. Hash tags are inserted before a word or phrase in order for other Twitter users to search for the topic immediately. Trending happens when a lot of people talk about, i.e. tweet, people, events, places and products.

In buying products, it is important for the customers to know reviews as regards the items that they want to buy. Word-of-mouth is a popular source of reviews. People who know each other share their evaluation of products that they themselves bought and used. The sellers themselves may present the features merchandise has. Still, people would prefer observations coming from those who have already experienced using certain goods.

Through the democratization process brought about by these social networking sites, consumers get to access product reviews from people who already own the merchandise. It seems that the more Likes and tweets a product has indicate that the item is worthy to be purchased. These Likes and tweets, which are concrete manifestations of people’s preference have commodified thoughts and companies are willing to pay just to receive a post or click.

Dr. Dennis H. Pulido is an Assistant Professor at the College of Education of De La Salle University. His dissertation is about the interface among language, identity and social networking sites.