After reading classmate Maddi Koop’s “You Are What You Like” blog” –https://blogs.ubc.ca/maddikoopmarketing/2013/10/15/you-are-what-you-like/– I have come to realize just how sneaky, yet brilliant, firms are in their advertising techniques.

Maddi illustrates the extent to which personal information is exposed when people use social media, and expresses that data miners “will now analyze users’ posts to reveal personal characteristics and personalities in order to better target to these consumers”.  For example, the ‘likes’ on Facebook are used to reveal details about individuals’ sexual orientation, religion, and political preferences.

I find this both creepy, and brilliant. Maddi goes on to say that she didn’t realize just how much information companies know about her from her mere ‘likes’ on Facebook, and that she was surprised when she went on http://youarewhatyoulike.com and received a report about herself, revealing an accurate depiction of her personality. She said she was shocked and that she usually only ‘likes’ pages to support other friends, yet the program must have been able to decipher what each individual ‘like’ meant.

I feel the same way, in that I never expected Facebook to actually know so much about me from a mere ‘like’, and it goes to show just how naive consumers are. I agree with Maddi in that it is slightly scary, but at the same time it teaches us two lessons: do not underestimate the power of firms and be more cautious on the internet, as privacy is a thing of the past when it comes to the online database. Maddi feels uneasy about ‘liking’ things now, and has ‘unliked’ all pages, so less information about her private life is revealed.

She goes on to say that that technique is similar to ‘Big Brother is watching,’ and i completely agree; however it has taught me a lesson. To be more cautious on the internet, and it has taught me to think about similar things that seem innocent yet are revealing my private information. For example, I used to take surveys when there was a chance of winning money, however I know realize that those surveys are also probably created to  analyze my preferences as a consumer and to tap into my private life, so I have stopped taking them.

Sources:
http://www.suite400magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Facebook-icon.png