By: Patrick Keenaghan Have you ever been scrolling through a social media app and come across an advertisement that is promoting exactly what you would be interested in? ![]() Perhaps you were in the market for new shoes, and then suddenly you start receiving ads for Foot Locker. You probably felt uneasy and maybe a little freaked out. However, this is no cause for serious concern. Social media platforms make their money by offering a space where advertisers can reach a large audience. In order to market effectively, advertisers want their products or services to be displayed to likely and potential customers. This requires that social media platforms continuously track and record everything their users do. Anytime you interact with an app, whether that be liking a post or clicking on a specific profile, that action is recorded. With enough data points, social media platforms, such as Facebook or TikTok, can personalize not only suggested content but also advertisements. Additionally, this data is most often shared with those same advertisers so that they can better understand their audience and who exactly is interacting with their product. This is the basis of media analytics, measuring and analyzing how users are interacting with the content in front of them. The process outlined above, however, is not the same as selling and purchasing data. Most social media companies do not sell your individual data or share personal information that identifies who you are. Social media giant, Instagram, reiterates this in their data policy which can be found on their website. Most of the data that is shared is aggregated behavioral data. For instance, clicking on a specific ad can alert advertisers which of their campaigns are successful or not. Nonetheless, the amount of data being recorded can certainly be intimidating to certain users. However, the personalization of advertisements is ultimately aimed to benefit the social media platform, the advertiser, and the consumer as well. Data has arguably become the most valuable asset in the world, all of which is constantly being stored and accumulated digitally. Social media apps will continue recording the data of their consumers and collaborating with advertisers. Some media consumers find this aspect of social media apps helpful, while others intrusive and unwanted. If you fall in the latter category, then you may want to review the settings you have enabled on those apps. It is a good rule of thumb to read the terms and conditions before joining a platform so that you are aware of all the information that is being gathered. Ultimately, if you are uncomfortable with all this data being collected, then joining a specific platform may not be right for you.
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