SteveWebel [dot] Com

For those of you who’ve made the plunge into the world of Facebook, you’ve probably noticed something… it’s called “targeted advertising” and it can be a little hard on the ole ego.

Do you know what I mean?

The Washington Post recently had an article about it;

Facebook targets its advertising to users based on the information in their profiles. This is not a new concept, of course. Kids usually see toy ads while they watch Nickelodeon, and women get ads for birth control pills as they watch Lifetime.

But Facebook’s data miners know much more about us because we tell them a whole lot more. Facebook knows my birthday, my relationship status and which book I’m reading, among other personal tidbits. The site started turning this information into dollar signs last November with the launch of Facebook Ads, which targets users’ presumed areas of interest (or psychological soft spots).

Basically, the subliminal goal of product advertising is to make you feel inadequate and ashamed, because you’re not perfect. Your teeth are yellow. Your armpits stink. You’re fat. And hairy.

I almost always get ads about “Learning Chinese” – how did they know my Mandarin stinks?  Lately they’ve been asking me if I need help with a “gambling addiction” – huh?!  Occasionally I think Facebook thinks I need to get a life, because it keeps asking me if I want to know about parties in Beijing.  

FB must not have got the memo about my THREE kids if they think I’m gonna jump at an opportunity to party it up in Beijing!

Ahhh, technology, you gotta love it!