On Personalization Algorithm Awareness…

I’m interested in what level of “personalization algorithm awareness” we carry with us, either consciously or otherwise.

Put another way, how aware are we that every platform has a demographic profile of us? And to what extent do we actively “manage” that profile, meaning alter our behavior in ways we believe will change or preserve that profile?

Examples (using Facebook advertising as a handy example) –

✅ Sometimes I’ll see something advertised on Facebook that I’m interested in, but I won’t click the link because I worry that Facebook will just keep showing me stuff like that over and over. (I might go Google for it in another window, just to keep Facebook from knowing about it…)

✅ Sometimes the opposite happens – I’ll click something because I think, “I might not be interested in this specifically, but I like the idea and I’d like to see more stuff like this.”

✅ Sometimes I “refresh” my interest in something, just to tell Facebook, “Keep showing me stuff like that. I might do something with it in the future, so I don’t want forget about it…”

✅ Sometimes I’m aware of a “wave of personalization” that passes over me when I click on something. For a few days, I’ll see similar things, and then it will slowly taper off. A lot of times, I’ll reluctantly click on something while rolling my eyes and thinking, “How long will it take for this wave to pass…?”

All of these behaviors are interesting because they involve both (1) me being aware that there is an algorithmic “shadow” to my behavior – my “digital twin” – , and (2) me “collaborating” with that algorithm to achieve ends that I want – either to see more or less of something.

When I do any of the above, I know what I’m doing. It’s not accidental. I’m working with/alongside a conceptual thing that I know is lurking somewhere in the background. Of course, I work in this space, so I’m acutely aware of this works (I’ve even programmed logic very much like this, at various times).

But what about “normal” people?

I asked my wife (she’s a kindergarten teacher). She said yes, she was aware that Facebook tracks what she does, and that her behavior will affect the things she says in the future. However, she didn’t much care.

Now, I’m not sure how much of that my wife knows just because I’ve talked about it in the past. Would my late mother have known about this?

I suspect these things are getting ingrained. With television (unless you were a Nielsen family) you never had a sense of being “followed.” But on social media, I’m wondering if most people know and assume this, intuitively.

Especially kids – are they growing up just assuming that they leave a trail of “interest profiles” everywhere they go? And does this sense “bleed over” into non-Interest arenas?

We live in interesting times.

(If this interests you, then I highly recommend “The Filter Bubble” by Eli Pariser.)