Has anyone else ever been on social media and had ads constantly popping up about something they were just recently searching about? I know this has happened to me plenty of times and it always seems like a coincidence.
When this happens to me, it is sometimes helpful. For example, If I was just recently searching for different types of gold necklaces, then all of a sudden I could be getting ads for a thousand different types of gold necklaces. This could’ve made my search for a pretty gold necklace much easier.
What is really going on…
On the flip side of that, getting ads about things you are searching can be not only annoying but detrimental. As explained by Jennifer Goldbeck in her ted talk, “Your social media likes expose more than you think”, there is actually a system created to track different aspects of your social media. For example they will track you’re likes, posts, followings, and even what or who you interact with on social media.
Once they gather this huge amount of information about you and your social media interactions, they will send it to behavior analysts and marketing teams to study your behavior. Then you will get ads marketed for you based off your recent social media interactions.
This can really be difficult for people who are trying to obtain a healthier lifestyle and are getting ads for unhealthy/fast foods, because maybe you recently liked a picture of a delicious looking burger you saw on instagram. From my own experience, sometimes all it takes is to see a super appetizing picture of a brownie for me to cave and go and get one.
Helpful hints
For all of you that don’t know, my blogs here are all about promoting healthy eating habits and how to make changes to accomplish that. If you are new here, you should go check out my blog, “Change isn’t scary, It’s healthy!” to get some insight as to what this page is all about. Also check it out if you are interested on how to make healthily living changes.
Im sure all of us know how hard it can be to break habits, especially if you’re constantly being tempted on different social media platforms. A better way to keep this temptation out of the picture is to not interact or search it on social media. Better yet, interact and search healthy foods and healthy habits instead! That way when you are getting pop up ads, they will be promoting healthier choices that could actually further motivate you to make healthier lifestyle choices.
If any of you are In need for some good and reliable websites to interact with, make sure you check out my last blog post, “Making smart choices, together!” for some guidance.
In my efforts to help make healthy lifestyle websites and content more available and by advice given by Lawrence Lessig’s in his Ted Talk, “Laws that choke creativity”, I am allowing any of my content to be used for non-commercial use as long as their is credit given.
Im hoping that this will help make useful information like this more available and accessible to those who want to become more knowledgeable in this topic. I also hope will will inspire other bloggers and writers to allow their information to be shared to help further spread information on healthy living.
Overall, I hope this blog gave you guys some insight as to what really goes on when your on social media and how to use the system to your benefit.
For future updates on my healthy living campaign, keep checking out my blog weekly and also check out my Vimeo for more information.
Healthy Food 