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| I wear spyware |
And I'd like to know how.
Backstory:
We're having some work done at our house, and the master bath is temporarily offline.
So today, of necessity, I showered in the guest bathroom.
After my shower I discovered there was no deodorant in my shaving kit, so I looked in the medicine cabinet to see if there was any there.
Voila! Our daughter, bless her, had stashed an assortment of products in the cabinet for when she comes to visit—including some deodorant.
THE DEODORANT FEATURED IN THIS AD, which showed up atop my FB feed 15 minutes later.
To be crystal clear, until 30 minutes ago I was unaware of this product's existence. There was no reason for the Native deodorant people to target me out of the blue with an ad for their product, just as they had no way of knowing that I JUST USED THEIR PRODUCT.
And yet, here we are.
My loving wife insists that this digital/real world interaction was a coincidence, but I think when it comes to data and ginormous social media platforms, there are no coincidences.
Additional data:
My iPhone 11 was on the counter in the bathroom
I neither picked up nor used my phone while in the bathroom
I don't believe the nice people at Native Co. put nanobots in their products, so...
WHY IS THIS AD SUDDENLY IN MY FB FEED??
Fortunately there are lots of articles (online, of course) about "coincidences" like the one I'm describing. Social media marketing algorithms compile and analyze massive amounts of our online data every second of every day. These companies then use that data to serve up ads on our devices that make it seem like they're actively watching our every move.
The fact that most of us aren't interesting enough to surveil is irrelevant—we're using technology, we've agreed to byzantine terms of service, and therefore detailed information about all of us is endlessly pouring into the world to be scooped up and dissected.
Full disclosure:
I was already aware of how corporations use our personal data to achieve their nefarious sales goals. Even so, the degree of specificity required to amble up and say, "HI HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING OUR PRODUCT WHICH YOU JUST USED BUY MORE NOW!!!" is unnerving.
I don't like it one bit.
But you know, I do like this Native 100% plastic-free deodorant! It smells nice, it's aluminum-free, and its packaging is recyclable!
Also, if you read this far, thank you and enjoy seeing ads from some random product which I may have recently researched and you may have tried for the first time.
Just remember...
IT'S NOT A COINCIDENCE AND YOU'RE NOT CRAZY*
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*Well, you may be crazy, but not about this
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