With the current class discussions of targeted ads and the use of cookies and terms & conditions of using certain sites, I found myself thinking about my own experience with targeted ads, privacy online, and seeing women being targeted more so than men. I'm not saying that men don't also experience targeted ads, but I have at least noticed that women are more inundated with these types of ads (possibly due to demographics of certain sites influencing what companies want their ads placed where). I think this can relate to how women have higher expectations in regards to outward appearance, therefor being more valuable (and perhaps, sadly, easier) targets for companies to advertise to. The encouragement and almost demand for more and more conspicuous consumption, especially online, is absolutely overwhelming at times. This idea reminded me of a trend I've noticed on YouTube. A YouTuber by the name of Safiya Nygaard, among others, will create videos where they allow these ads to dictate what they buy as a type of experiment. Safiya will click on five different ads on a specific platform over the course of a day or two and buy items from each website or app she is taken to, then testing out the products once they all arrive. I find these videos interesting to watch, because of how much attention they bring to just how many ads we are subjected to on a daily basis-- and just how many of them are tailored specifically to us, our demographic, and our Internet activity that companies track.
Here's her video on Facebook ads, the first of the series:
Her Instagram video, I think, highlights very important points about different sites' privacy and ad policies and how they choose to tailor ads to their users.
Curious, I took to Instagram to check my own settings and read the Ads page myself. What I find interesting is the language they use, claiming that their main goal is to find and show me ads that they think are interesting and relevant to me. What they don't tell me is that they do this because they can sell my interests and information to companies that will pay them to advertise to me. I suppose it's just an added bonus that they make money if I click on an ad I find interesting, right? Safiya also mentions how ads will follow you cross-platform. She shows the audience in real-time how one company she saw and bought from on Instagram later wedged its way onto her Facebook timeline, and something she had bought two days prior showed up as a sponsored post on her Instagram.
Now, on my laptop I have AdBlock enabled on most sites, but ads are constantly gracing the screen of my phone whenever I have any social media open. I'd say about every three to four posts on Instagram are interrupted by an ad. Twitter is even worse, and I genuinely avoid Facebook on my phone because of the ads. A lot of the ads I end up seeing revolve around makeup, clothing, and (of course) anything I google on my phone. This makes sense, of course, because of how targeted ads actually work, but it still doesn't make it any less concerning. If I don't end up buying that expensive eyeshadow palette that I keep ogling at on Sephora.com, I can then become haunted by that product and that company. If AdBlock was disabled on my laptop, the product would follow me from my laptop to my phone, from my phone to my laptop, from the Sephora app to Instagram, and however else. I wanted to check Instagram to see what kind of ads I would get, and I wasn't too surprised at how specific the ads were towards what I've bought or googled just within the last 10 days. Within a minute of scrolling, I saw an ad for the Justice League movie, an ad for Calvin Klein jeans, and an ad for Dropbox. A few days ago, I had looked up show times for the movie. Last week, I was shopping for jeans. I've been using Dropbox since forever to move files between my laptop and phone. All of these ads, among many, many others, were extremely tailored to me and my activity online. While this doesn't quite faze me anymore, I do think we shouldn't just accept this surveillance as normal and not be critical of it. Otherwise, consumers will only see this kind of thing grow worse.
Here's her video on Facebook ads, the first of the series:
Her Instagram video, I think, highlights very important points about different sites' privacy and ad policies and how they choose to tailor ads to their users.
Now, on my laptop I have AdBlock enabled on most sites, but ads are constantly gracing the screen of my phone whenever I have any social media open. I'd say about every three to four posts on Instagram are interrupted by an ad. Twitter is even worse, and I genuinely avoid Facebook on my phone because of the ads. A lot of the ads I end up seeing revolve around makeup, clothing, and (of course) anything I google on my phone. This makes sense, of course, because of how targeted ads actually work, but it still doesn't make it any less concerning. If I don't end up buying that expensive eyeshadow palette that I keep ogling at on Sephora.com, I can then become haunted by that product and that company. If AdBlock was disabled on my laptop, the product would follow me from my laptop to my phone, from my phone to my laptop, from the Sephora app to Instagram, and however else. I wanted to check Instagram to see what kind of ads I would get, and I wasn't too surprised at how specific the ads were towards what I've bought or googled just within the last 10 days. Within a minute of scrolling, I saw an ad for the Justice League movie, an ad for Calvin Klein jeans, and an ad for Dropbox. A few days ago, I had looked up show times for the movie. Last week, I was shopping for jeans. I've been using Dropbox since forever to move files between my laptop and phone. All of these ads, among many, many others, were extremely tailored to me and my activity online. While this doesn't quite faze me anymore, I do think we shouldn't just accept this surveillance as normal and not be critical of it. Otherwise, consumers will only see this kind of thing grow worse.
I never given into thought about how truly concerning the virtual world is until we watched the film about it in class and after I read your post. Going on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other types of social media seems to know my interests from just what I have liked or even given my attention to. Even if I go on Facebook and like an outfit from American Eagle, it will also be sponsored on Instagram as well. Anything I google, tweet or post about, that certain topic will also pop up on different social medias. I find it disturbing. When it comes to your post, I agree that tailored ads really are concerning. No matter where you go, these ads follow. It is an issue that many of us are not worried about but who knows what could happen in the future. Will taking action against the surveillance change the issue or make it worse?
ReplyDeleteHonestly I have been bothered by ads before but after our class discussion i'm realizing how creepy and corporate it all is. As an experiment just before this comment I checked Instagram for ass and low and behold a bright Ulta ad that tries and almost succeeds in blending in with all of my friends post. And while the ad is deceptive and annoying enough its even more disturbing that just before this i was looking at Ulta's black friday deals on my laptop. It really is almost malicious and this corporate greed is really pervasive in our society right now especially on these "free" apps. And not even 3 post down is an ad for BH cosmetics which O just bought a palette from. Tailored adds are getting a little out of control and there should really be some safeguards for consumers put in place because this is getting ridiculous.
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