7 ms·

I don't know. I have lost track of the number of times a non-tech family member or friend has mentioned to me they find over-personalization of ads creepy. I pe

I don't know. I have lost track of the number of times a non-tech family member or friend has mentioned to me they find over-personalization of ads creepy. I personally stopped using Facebook mainly because I didn't like the content their algorithm was sending to me. I think tech people like to imagine there are users who are very distinct in ideas and taste to them. I'm less confident.

repolfx 8y ago
Well, I match your anecdote with my own - I've never heard anyone say that. I suspect you may be subtly prompting them somehow, like by making it clear that you find it creepy. Having an opinion like "oh I don't like Facebook ads" is basically free because nobody will expect you to actually follow up on it and stop using Facebook. It's a quick bit of echo chamber virtue signalling that sounds better to people's ears than, "actually I quite like the ads on Facebook" which everyone knows from reading the press isn't the "correct" opinion to hold. After all people have been saying this for years, and it never affected Facebook's revenue or user numbers before. I don't think their recent bad results are due to a sudden sea change in how people perceive ads.
- pasabagi 8y ago
  You might be right. I'm sure Facebook have a great number of metrics that they use to guide their ranking of content. I do however wonder how accurate metrics are as guidelines for a platform's longterm health- I think some things are far easier to measure than others, and companies tend to put short-term engagement over long-term retention anyway. It's probably very easy to sell slightly-invasive advertising to managers, on the basis that you can straightforwardly quantify the money you're making from it. People's subtle feeling of being creeped out is basically impossible to measure, and would never show up in the short term anyway, but I bet it changes the way they act on the platform, and the platform's value proposition to its users. It's also possible nobody is actually creeped out - but honestly, it just needs to be a sizeable portion of journalists and politicians before you start having legistlative problems. How many people were genuinely worried about nuclear power, for instance?

repolfx 8y ago

Well, I match your anecdote with my own - I've never heard anyone say that. I suspect you may be subtly prompting them somehow, like by making it clear that you find it creepy. Having an opinion like "oh I don't like Facebook ads" is basically free because nobody will expect you to actually follow up on it and stop using Facebook. It's a quick bit of echo chamber virtue signalling that sounds better to people's ears than, "actually I quite like the ads on Facebook" which everyone knows from reading the press isn't the "correct" opinion to hold. After all people have been saying this for years, and it never affected Facebook's revenue or user numbers before. I don't think their recent bad results are due to a sudden sea change in how people perceive ads.

pasabagi 8y ago
You might be right. I'm sure Facebook have a great number of metrics that they use to guide their ranking of content. I do however wonder how accurate metrics are as guidelines for a platform's longterm health- I think some things are far easier to measure than others, and companies tend to put short-term engagement over long-term retention anyway. It's probably very easy to sell slightly-invasive advertising to managers, on the basis that you can straightforwardly quantify the money you're making from it. People's subtle feeling of being creeped out is basically impossible to measure, and would never show up in the short term anyway, but I bet it changes the way they act on the platform, and the platform's value proposition to its users. It's also possible nobody is actually creeped out - but honestly, it just needs to be a sizeable portion of journalists and politicians before you start having legistlative problems. How many people were genuinely worried about nuclear power, for instance?