Facebook Thinks You're Gay Based on Three 'Likes'

[DonViejo]

Source: Newsweek Magazine




FACEBOOK THINKS YOU’RE GAY OR A DRUG USER BASED ON THREE ‘LIKES,’ STUDY SAYS

BY CHRISTIANNA SILVA ON 11/23/17 AT 3:30 PM

Facebook advertisements take one swift look at a few of your “likes,” and make a decision about your sexual orientation, drug use history and more—whether you purposefully post it on your profile or not, according to a new study out of Big Data.

This is a really bad way to tell if someone is queer. For instance, if a person on Facebook “likes” Lady Gaga, Glee and the Human Rights Campaign, Facebook is likely to assume that person’s sexuality is gay.

They make these assumptions to exploit information about someone’s personal characteristics that they haven’t made public on the internet—such as being gullible, introverted, female, a drug user or gay. But the problem with Facebook’s assumptions runs deep. This is particularly worrying for LGBT people who aren’t yet publicly out. LGBT people are more likely to be targets of a hate crime than any other minority group, and outing people who are closeted could lead to dangerous implications.

"While some online users may benefit from being targeted based on inferences of their personal characteristics, others may find such inferences unsettling,” the study's authors, Daizhuo Chen, Samuel Fraiberger and Robert Moakler wrote.

Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/facebook-thinks-youre-gay-or-drug-user-based-three-likes-study-says-721006

[left-of-center2012]

1. I only got one out of three

“... if a person on Facebook “likes” Lady Gaga, Glee and the Human Rights Campaign, Facebook is likely to assume that person’s sexuality is gay.”

Assume what y'all want.

[dembotoz]

2. now that is funny in an odd sort of way....

perhaps i could suggest another data set for bestiality

1 member of congress
2 evangelical
3 subscriptions to sheep raising sites

[bagelsforbreakfast]

5. Oh, oh. Now you've done it! Roger Stone's coming after you for sure...

Some secrets need to be kept --

By the way Joe Esterhaz (screenwriter of BASIC INSTINCT and FOOTLOOSE) wrote a script about a President from the flyover states that has sex with a cow one night, is caught, and can't understand it's a big deal (given from where he's from)!

[paleotn]

10. Ha!!!

[Nitram]

3. I fail to see a problem. In neither case does FB inform the public of their assumptions.

If the technique is inaccurate, the only "harm" is to advertisers who are wasting their advertising dollars. Every one of us is a "victim" of a million assumptions like this based on our purchase and internet history, among other things. If we don't like that, then we should start a movement to do something about it. I fail to see that more harm is done to the LGBTQ community than anyone else as long as the assumption remains classified. The only example in the article of someone being outed has nothing to do with Facebook's techniques for helping the targeting of ads. Am I missing something? I can't help but wonder iff this isn't a hit piece tartgetting Facebook.

[paleotn]

9. If I'm not mistaken

Facebook's algorithms control a portion of the content that ends up on your timeline. Facebook friends can see this content as well....possibly content you'd rather they not see. It's the loss of control that upsets people, particularly people like me who came of age long before the internet. Facebook shouldn't be the arbitrator of what one chooses to reveal about one's self. I get it that it's a necessary evil until we can figure out a better way to make the internet pay, but an evil none the less. For me, the ads that I have absolutely no interest in are funny. Sometimes funny as hell. But depending on the situation, they might not be funny at all.

[Nitram]

19. I'm still not convinced it make any difference.

If you feel the it does, then you need to make it a political issue.

[wasupaloopa]

4. I love going to Lady Gaga concerts and I

worked with the Human Rights campaign for equality in CA.

Not a glee fan. My wife's brother and sister are gay and we are friends on Facebook.

Many of their friends are my friends.

So what ever Facebook thinks of me it hasn't effected me in any way.

[sandensea]

6. I guess the Steel Magnolias rule is out then.

[Phil Ossified]

7. Russia is Anti-Gay

Coincidence? Fuckbook needs to be intensely investigated.

[paleotn]

8. The algorithims are lazy...

many times written by those who think they're smarter than they really are. What the marketeers show me in ads is laughable in many cases, since they just can't quite pin me down and many times are way way off the mark. Their thinking is based on the error that people live in tight little boxes, easily divined by a small amount of info. In reality, we live on a continuum and move around in it from year to year, sometimes hour to hour.

Obviously, there's the privacy issue. Most of us really don't want the internet giants knowing nearly as much about us as they do. But since advertising is the only method yet devised to make the internet pay, information, even personal info, is the most valuable commodity. Otherwise, those gigantic market caps for Facebook, Google and the rest is just air.

[Xipe Totec]

20. My favorite is when they start sending ads for refrigerators, right after you buy one

They figure you must like refrigerators a lot.

[LakeArenal]

11. Think I am gay all you want Facebook..

I don't mind..

[Odoreida]

12. Sh*t like this -- Why I don't do Facebook. n/t

[neeksgeek]

13. Im no longer on Facebook

When I joined, an academic .edu email address was required. It was a long time ago. I quit, I think, in 2012 or so. The targeted ads are the reason.

Here are two examples of ads Facebook thought I should see constantly:

“Get your degree in photography/graphic design!”

This was evidently a response to my BS and MA degrees in Photography and Graphic Arts, which were posted to my profile.

“Meet hot single Latinas.”

Apparently this one showed up because I’m married to a woman with a Hispanic maiden name, and this was posted to my profile. (I always wonder if she got ads saying “Meet hot white guys!”)

For a little while, I clicked on the link to say that the ads weren’t relevant, but they kept coming back. So I got tired of it and quit. Deleted my account.

[alphafemale]

14. Facebook seems to think I am a black male.

OK by me.

[crazycatlady]

21. I haven't been on FB in years

But if they're judging by photos, they think I'm a feline.

[alphafemale]

23. No. The Ads it is sending.

And all of my extended family is on FB.

[Cirque du So-What]

15. 2 outta 3 ain't bad

Couldn't get into Glee

[briv1016]

16. Wasn't there a King of Queens episode where the friend's TIVO thought he was gay?

[Egnever]

17. Oh my God!

Please Facebook don't make me gay!




Screw Facebook.

Wonder why they chose gay out of all the things Facebook might think you are.

Guess we still have a ways to go.

[Honeycombe8]

18. Businesses have been identifying and analyzing all sorts of info about people for years.

Can't hide from the money machines. Their assumptions may or may not be correct.

[milestogo]

22. Facebook is full of shit.