Week 13: Audit Your Online Presence

When I look at my online footprint at a first glance I wouldn't think too much of it. I have the same amount of social media accounts as my peers, so why would this be a problem? The social media accounts I use on a daily basis, and even more now in quarantine are- Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Pinterest. I do not post much on my social media accounts, normally 1-2 posts every 2 months. But even though I am not sharing much information with my followers, these big social media companies are taking my information and using it for themselves and others.

Big tech companies take information off your phone without you even realizing it! Well you may be thinking they just have access to your email and phone number, they are actually taking much much more. A man left the ad industry after realizing how easily and precise target marketing is done. He explained that income records, mortgage details, the type of cars you drive, and political party are easily found. The scariest part of ad targeting he mentioned was how he was challenged to target anonymous people and these anonymous people were actually tracked through out the day. These peoples daily locations were tracked, in particular they tracked a young woman who went to Starbucks, a school, a yoga studio, then back to school. With this information they realized this woman has a child and now have a glimpse into her hobbies.

With companies having the ability to see all of your information and daily life, they have the ability to place ads that will target you individually. After reading this article (linked below) I have realized just how scary it is to have social media and how much these companies influence what you think and see through ads. In this time, especially being quarantined, it is extremely difficult to stay off of social media but I will definitely have to make an adjustment!

https://www.fastcompany.com/90359992/an-ad-tech-pioneer-on-where-our-data-economy-went-wrong-and-how-to-fix-it