Going about a Screenabout
For this assignment, I decided to use a personal computer and mobile phone to study the number and type of advertisements which appear on social media sites I regularly access. During the time, I was visiting these sites I was also listening to music using a free music app. Therefore, I decided to also include the ads which came up for this assignment. For music, I was utilizing the music app Spotify, during the time I was visiting Facebook, scrolling through Instagram, and taking a glance at YouTube.
At the start of the assignment I did visit a website called Sitepoint as well. I remembered using an online program called Alexa.com on a previous school assignment and was trying to see if I could apply it during my Screenabout. Originally, I could not recall the exact program, so I Googled something like, “online tracking programs” and Sitepoint came up. It is a website which lists options for tracking programs which people can purchase. Previously I had freely used Alexa to see what cookies were placed on my online meanderings and what companies were tracking my progression throughout the Internet. However, I quickly discovered Amazon.com now owns this company. It was interesting to me that a previously free service, which allowed people to better understand how data was collected about them, has since been bought up by a “Big Data Company”. Now Amazon has a better grasp and control over what information people can learn about online tracking software. Very likely, it also helps Amazon to regulate people’s perception of their information gathering practices towards their consumers.
Once I realized I would not be able to use Alexa unless paying for it, I decided to simply move forward with the Screenabout. In reviewing advertisements on Spotify, I found it had only a general idea of who I might be. The advertisements which came through the app tended to be more generic and fit a broader audience. Initially, I had a video ad which utilized a reward method to gain an interaction; “If you watch this short video, the next 30 minutes are ad-free music”. Collectively I had four ads from Spotify, the initial video advertisement from Command, along with three popup ads from Starbucks, Del Taco, and Staples. These appeared to indicate an awareness of my being a student. That information was gathered from the locations I frequent and the purchases I make. For these advertisements, they tended to make appearances after the 30-minute promise of ad-free music, or simply popup whenever I went in and out of the app on my phone.
During this listening period, Facebook was an interesting visit. I chose to only go through my News Feed, and only tally the advertisement posts which I saw listed as “Sponsored”. There was one sidebar advertisement when I first entered the site, FabuLips by Kinsie. Through my scrolling, I found that the Kinsie ad was very indicative about the advertisements I was going to see. Overall, Facebook considers me to be a young adult female who is fixated on “personal beauty”. Although close to the mark, I miss when I used to see advertisements of cool Tolkien or “nerdy” products that would come up on the News Feed. However, my likes, the videos I watch, and the online purchases I make has shifted. So, considering the amount of beauty videos I have watched over the last few months it does make complete sense why these advertisements are coming up. Being on Facebook, in 10 minutes I had 14 advertisements. There was only one deviation from the beauty category, which was for the Squatty Potty. I am not entirely sure why it came up. It might be because I do have friends who are having children and I have family with younger children, so my social network is the the link between myself and the advertised product. After 10 minutes of scrolling, I did find that the advertisements ended. But when I refreshed the webpage and started at the top of the News Feed, more advertisements popped up. This leads me to assume that Facebook’s News Feed is formatted to promote companies before allowing more personal social access. By seeing products on your News Feed which appear relevant to you, appear in high frequency, and appear each time you start viewing, the push for product and profit by companies becomes visible.
The other social media site I used for this assignment was Instagram. While I accessed Facebook from a personal computer, I went on Instagram through my mobile phone. In the span of about 5 minutes I had seen 10 advertisements. Again, the majority were beauty and fashion advertisements, because my Facebook and Instagram accounts are linked. Some of the advertisements which were outside of this category were relevant to me, as I use Wells Fargo, I like Game of Thrones accounts so HBO made sense along with a Marvel Studios advertisement regarding Guardians of the Galaxy II. But an advertisement for Zola’s website creation was different, but it may have stemmed from my earlier search for Alexa. Because it is people who are creating websites which like to use tools that allow them to see the traffic on their site. On the Instagram feed, there was an advertisement for a USC Master’s program. Since I have posted some graduation photos as well as liked and searched different graduation cap ideas, that advertisement does make sense. Kraft and War by Parker were more off the mark. Regarding the Kraft advertisement as I do not shop online for food, I do not really like or interact with food accounts, nor do any of my friends. War’s eyeglass advertisement was also difficult to place. I do wear glasses and use contacts but interactions pertaining to these items are done in person. But as there was a Wells Fargo advertisement it makes sense that companies would also have an idea of where I make purchases offline. This may offer the link, and offer weird evidence of the blurred line between my online and offline activities. Out of all the advertisements the strangest was one for something called Episode. It appeared like role-playing video games or SIMs, where you construct a storyline after making a responsive choice to a situation. It looked too questionable and I had no desire to click on it to find out more. For this advertisement, I cannot come up with a link.
Between the different media, I found the advertisements met my expectations. I do not consider myself particularly careless with my information online, but I also recognize that information is being gathered about me. The frequency of advertisements surprised me, but the categories did not. Currently, based off this assignment, the information available on me is not entirely off-putting. Yet, in reflecting on the ease of access which companies must me, my accounts, and their ability to profile me I find it all very frustrating. I have greater personal diversity than being a young adult female who is interested in “beauty”. Being pigeonholed into such a profile, without even being granted a variety of choice (i.e., buying options), is infuriating. Without being given different options, I am restricted in my ability to change and evolve. Thus, rather than asking who I am as a consumer (or person), the question becomes who do they think I am? This perception change could lead to interesting reflections on identity formation in the future. However, those reflections will have to be a different assignment. For the Screenabout, it was interesting to see the perception of me as a consumer.
