Okay, so for the past couple of weeks, I've been seeing a ton of memes addressing the issue of online ads. People have been noticing certain ads that follow them around social media and while surfing the web. A little while back, I wrote an article that scraped the surface of social media, sensationalism, and personalization. This is important to keep in mind as I try to explain to everyone why that certain ad keeps following you around.

First Off, What is Personalization?

Personalization is basically (and this is a very basic definition) an algorithm that many social media sites and search engines use to better understand their audiences and meet their users' needs. These sites track information from users and show content that reflects upon the interests and beliefs of the user.

For example, if you go onto Google and search up a political news story, you may find that your search results differ from the peer sitting next to you who has done the same. The reason for this difference is that Google tracks your political beliefs. Yes, I said that correctly. If you are more conservative, your results are more likely to correspond to your beliefs.

But it Doesn't Stop There.

Social media sites are also using this same approach. It sounds nice right? People are able to get the content they want, so it sounds good in theory. However, there is an underlying problem. Personalization is making things way too simplistic. People are constantly getting content that corresponds to their own views and thought processes, that their pre-held beliefs are no longer being challenged.

Critical thinking is dying because of this algorithm.

So How Does this All Tie Together?

Last year, I had to read a book called, The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding From You by Eli Pariser, for a journalism research class. I didn't really know what to expect from the book; I wasn't familiar with the concept of personalization. I just thought that this book was going to be some boring work on research. Boy was I wrong.

After reading Pariser's work, my mind was blown and my views of the Internet completely changed. I was left dumbfounded, and the information that I took in was hard to digest. It hit upon the concept of personalization and how advertisers are using it to their advantage.

This Is Why that Ad Follows You Around.

So, as I stated before, your personal information (i.e. name, address, phone number, etc) is all over the web. Whenever you shop online, there are third party advertisers that track your viewing history.

Let me break this down for all of you. You go onto your favorite online website, and you look at a wallet that you're interested in buying. While this is happening, that website is working with a third party that sells your personal information to the company. This happens in less than a second. The third party site tracks your information, and the company keeps tabs on your consumer history.

Then you notice that ad following you around. The company uses your personal information to flood your social media, web browsers, etc. They hope that you will return to buy the wallet. This is a new form of online advertising that is pretty alarming. Some third party site has all this personal information on you and sells it without you even knowing.