Something about the tone of these things makes my skin crawl a little but I can't help but read them. It's like the space aliens trying to convince everybody to board their ship in "To Serve Man".
The inferences possible through 'network theory' simply stun me. I'm privy to information about small company, without access to any sources of 'big data' aside from the address books of people who download the app, and it's absolutely shocking what you can learn about people when you know some of their friends. And they're only looking at one signal.
I think you're perceiving accurately to describe FB as something alien.