Tuesday, 9/8

For all that Facebook claims to know about people, they sure don’t seem to know much about me.

One of the things the social media site says they do very well it to match up a person with ads that are tailored to their interest.  For instance, Facebook is supposed to be able to take a look at my profile, determine what I might be interested in, and then place ads on my newsfeed that match up with those interest, all in the hope that I’ll click “like” or visit the website, thereby allowing Facebook to make a little money from advertisers.  However, I’m not sure that it works the way it’s supposed to, based on several “sites you might like” suggestions that have popped up the last few days.  Those “suggestions”?  Well, they were for hunting equipment, a hardware store, and the Parents Television Council, a group that advocates censoring TV shows.

After that, I’m thinking Facebook doesn’t know me at all!

I know the company claims to get its information on me from two sources.  They comb through my likes to find other, similar sites and companies to suggest to me.  I currently have about 200 things that I “like” on Facebook, and not one of them has anything to do with hunting, with hardware stores (in this case, Lowes), or with censoring TV shows.  In fact, almost all of the shows that I “like” on Facebook are ones that the PTC thinks should be taken off the air.  So as far as that goes I’m a bit confused as to why Facebook would think that I might be interested in clicking “like” on its suggestions.

Of course, another way that Facebook “suggests” sites I might like is by combing through the “likes” of my friends, thinking that if they like something, I would probably like it, too.  The flaw in that theory, of course, is that I have a lot of Facebook friends, some of whom I have almost nothing in common with.  I have friends, in real life and on Facebook, who have different political views than do I, have different tastes in TV than do I, and who like to go hunting and/or build things.  And for Facebook to think that I’d be interested in something just because someone I know and/or are “friends” with are interested; well, that just seems to be stretching it a little.

At least it seems that way to me.

Of course, in the end, it’s really not that big of a deal.  After all, it’s only Facebook, and if there’s one thing of which Facebook users are aware, it’s that the site really doesn’t seem to know what they’re doing, despite protestations to the contrary.  So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that among the “things that I might like” are things I find uninteresting or are against my moral views.

That’s just Facebook, after all.

(jim@wmqt.com)