Introduction
There is so much to love about the World Wide Web. It feels as if everything you might need in life, every question you want answered can be found on the Internet one way or another. What makes it all so great is how we are supplied with familiarity. The Internet can provide us with a curated world that includes the things and ideas that align with our top interests. The problem lies in the process with how the tech companies go about building that world; and that is tracking everything about your online persona. This includes everything that you search, click on, and browse. The World Wide Web gives the impression that it is a destination of limitless exploration and unlimited freedom, but that feeling can change the moment you realize you are being watched; because once we take notice of that, we tend to "act differently" when we navigate through the Internet (Richards, 2). The Internet is a business that wants to optimize the advertisements that are pushed to users to keep the cycle of usage going for as long as possible. Through this experiment, we will see that tech companies can pivot very quickly with their advertisements to influence a new consumer as soon as possible.
Who Am I?
When beginning this project, I was really curious about figuring out what these technology companies thought of me. Who do they think I am? What do they think were my top interests? What kind of picture were they able to paint from my searches? Despite the fact I am not as active as the average person on some websites (for example, I have barely used Instagram in the last year), I feel as though my main interests have been captured across multiple sites.
I use Google daily, which can explain the wide variety of ad topics that were given to me above. Usually, I browse the Internet with a specific goal or subject in mind, and that is reflected through some of my suggested ad topics. I am a huge sports fan, so a lot of my browsing is a result of my searching game scores, news, and looking up sports memorabilia for purchase. I also delve into news about Disney Parks (you can thank my mom for turning me into a big fan of that), which is why topics such as "Theme Parks" and "Tourist Attractions" frequently come up for me. On top of that, I notice that food is spread throughout my topics. This is likely due to me using Google to search for food delivery, look up the latest food trends, and sometimes check out some recipes that I could attempt to make. For a lot of these topics, the only way I can justify them is through my moments of going down the rabbit hole of the Web and piquing my curiosity over various topics.
Again, I have not spent much time recently on Instagram and that can explain why these ad topics are all over the place, but I am seeing some that Google also suggested me. Instagram does seem to have a better understanding of my love for video games, as it even gets specific with "first-person shooter games" as a topic. It also seems to supplement my own interests with what is popular by the rest of Instagram's users.
By looking at my Instagram feed, I can get a visualization of what Meta thinks I am after and what they are showing me in return. From the looks of it, I can see that my main interests are better concentrated in my feed than in the list of topics; sports posts take over the feed, but some posts focusing on TV/film entertainment are also included. Overall, it seems as though the Internet mostly knows about my likes/dislikes and follows through by surrounding me with what is familiar to keep me browsing and scrolling.
I have always had AdBlock on since those advertisements can really be distracting when I am scrolling through websites. But I paused the ad blocking for a limited time to see what kind of ads are being suggested to me based on my searches. I have definitely noticed a bunch of ads related to sports. It makes sense as to why I would get them from websites such as ESPN.com, as I did with some nice looking basketball shoes. But I was surprised to get them from a site like CNN.com, which gave me an ad for replica jerseys from my favorite football team.
My New Identity & Interest
Now that the Internet's gotten an idea of who I am, it's time for them to figure out a "new person." I want this person to be completely distinguishable from who I am; and the best way to do it is have one thing in mind, such as relocating to a new state. Therefore, the new identity I am introducing to the World Wide Web goes by the name of "Scottie Michael," a near 40-year-old man from North Carolina. Recently, Scottie has become more and more interested about potentially moving to Alaska and has decided to look towards the Web to help advance his cause.
The Experiment
Moving to another state, especially to Alaska, can be quite a handful; that's why it was important for Scottie to prepare for such a move by doing his research on the state of Alaska and what he should expect for as a future resident.
Scottie got right to work on understanding what Alaska is like and what his path to moving there could possibly shape up to be. While the beauty of Alaska was widely known to him, Scottie wanted to go beyond that and understand the ins and outs of the state. That's why he began searching things like "Things to do in Alaska," "Best places to live in Alaska," and "What's the weather like in Alaska." He wanted to understand what the state had in store for him and what he had to do to be ready for it. He also wanted to get a feel of the job landscape there and decide where in the state would be suitable for him to take the job that he desired. Along with all of that, Scottie felt that it would be a good idea to plan a vacation to Alaska, which would work as a test to see if he could get comfortable with living there; to do that, he began looking at rental houses. By observing the ad topics, we can see that it is not as filled up as mine was. But this is not a bad thing to encounter, because Scottie's ads will all center on helping him get on his way to Alaska.
Scottie was quickly met with advertisements that were starting to look similar to what he would be interested in. Considering he was thinking about moving to a state that is over 4,000 miles away and was planning a quick vacation before committing to a relocation, it was very fitting that Scottie was immediately swarmed with advertisements meant for travel planning, such as booking flights and hotels (Expedia), renting vacation homes (Vrbo), and even renting cars (Hertz).
Scottie went even deeper by exploring the sites that he saw advertisements for. Not only did he look at hotels for his future vacation, but he also took a peek at houses that could work for him when he relocates. Between the two browsing sessions, Scottie was locked in on one city that he could see himself living in: Anchorage. Scottie had set his sights on Anchorage early on his research and even searched for its points of interest; so when he began taking a look at where he should stay and where he should live within the city, he would - not only get ads for Alaska itself - but would also receive ads that specifically showcase Anchorage and suggest places to stay in the city.
While Google really covered all of the bases for Scottie's research, he thought it would be a good idea to reach out to a social media application - like Instagram - and possibly see if he could understand more about Alaska from those who already reside there. To get started, all that Scottie had to do was simply type in "#Alaska" and, from there, he was welcomed by a endless supply of photos and videos of the beautiful state of Alaska. In his spare time, he would scroll for a few minutes, tap on some of the posts, and give them a like. On top of that, Scottie would follow the people behind some of those posts and even follow the "#Alaska" hashtag; that way, he is letting Meta know what kinds of posts he is hoping to see on his feed. And would you know it? It did not take long for those posts to show up on the feed; now Scottie can happily begin scrolling for Alaska related posts right when he opens up Instagram.
Analysis
Looking over the results, I feel like they could have been more specific; but that's a case of human error on my part as I could have spent more time browsing the Internet. Regardless, the results were pretty significant and met the expectations that I had set at the start of this experiment. I relied on a browser and a social media application controlled by their respective major tech companies - Google and Meta - to help generate advertisements that were meant to reach out to a middle-aged man who was completely focused on making the big move to a state like Alaska. Under this new persona, I was shocked to see how fast it took for these personal advertisements to start rolling out. What helped get these ads to me as quickly as possible was the fact that I made the main interest known for this new persona. While I usually search for multiple topics on the daily on my own account, I made sure to stay on topic and keep searching only for all things about Alaska. From there, I was able to witness multiple ads come in that were tailored towards helping my new persona plan for his relocation.
The results are fascinating to observe, yet downright frightening at the same time; because it reminds us of how these ads were able to reach out in the first place. It all ties back to the idea of algorithmic personalization and how "by tracking and predicting users’ behavior, a selection of choices of entertainment, information, and persuasion can be presented in highly customized ways to individuals, affecting how they use the internet" (Hobbs, 3). Algorithmic personalization would not be possible if tech companies did not track our every single move as we navigate through the World Wide Web. In order to keep you browsing, they have to see exactly what you are browsing for; and that was demonstrated throughout this neat experiment.
Conclusion
I kept my AdBlock on for the longest time before this project; but by disabling it now, it opened my eyes to the fallacies of exploring the Internet. Data mining has become a massive problem for Americans who enjoy spending time browsing on the World Wide Web. Many Americans are blinded by the fact that some of their most sensitive data is falling into the hands of technology companies and, after that, is potentially being sold off to individuals looking to misuse them. While this experiment proved that people were just a few searches away from getting personalized advertisements, it also demonstrated how quickly their personal data can be stripped from them. If we ignored the fact that our data could be sold, there is still a huge problem with tech companies taking our data and making predictions about ourselves based off them; to go even further, it becomes a bigger problem when those predictions are wrong and that misinformation reaches the eyes of those around us. We live in a society where nothing is considered private anymore and therefore have to be cautious of how we access websites, such as Google and Instagram. The future of data privacy looks very bleak; so, it is up to us to continue the conversation and challenge these tech companies over the use of our personal data.
References
- Hobbs Algorithmic Personalization 2020.pdf. (2020, January 3).
- Richards, N. (2015, March 16). The Electronic Panopticon. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Media in this analysis has been compiled for educational purposes.