Data Visualization: Girlfriends, and Beards, and Hedgehogs

Though I’m currently on a social media hiatus, part of me knows that I’ll inevitably have to reactivate at least some—if not all—of my accounts for networking purposes moving forward (This is that inclusion thing, isn’t it?). All things considered, I’ve taken a great attention to detail in making sure that my content has been as private as possible when actively displayed. Even still, my browser is forever riddled with a bevy of never-ending advertising. This ultimately leads me to believe that I haven’t accounted for everything—and maybe—that trying to exclude myself from targeting just isn’t realistic. Aside from the general data that I’ve generated in the past through parameters, statuses, and demographics that I fall under, I know that my pictures—namely the captions or tags pertaining thereto—have given away quite a bit of information about me that could serve as a juicy target for direct advertising interests (Or maybe I’m just being paranoid, but that’s a discussion for another day).

I’ve never been one to post photos in which specific brand products could be recognized, so most of the information ascertained from pictures would almost solely have been done so through visual annotations and tags. A perfect example of this is my profile picture (i.e. my featured image for this post) at the time of my Facebook deactivation, which is one of my girlfriend and I. The natural thought that comes to mind, is that I stand to be targeted based off of how I’m dressed. Clothing outlets such as Urban Outfitters and Bed Stu—as well as similar companies—may take an interest in how I’m dressed and target me with product strategies. Furthermore—though it might be somewhat of a stretch—the photo may communicate that I’m in a relationship and tailor advertisements that pertain more so to my significant other than they do to me, as a result.

My second photo—which I regrettably admit is not the first selfie I’ve ever posted—communicates even more about my taste in style. This picture in particular shows how I wear my hair and facial hair, so companies that specialize in grooming accessories might have collected on that visual data and littered my Google Chrome with reviews of beard oils and forming cremes. Oh, and I almost forgot about the sunglasses; I see a lot of ads for sunglasses. Anyway, my third photo—which features my girlfriend’s irascible hedgehog Harriet—visually communicates that I’m a pet owner to someone who doesn’t know me better. This could warrant advertisement from companies such as PetSmart and competitors, and explain where I got the notion to spend money on a purple hedgehog house and fleece bed. Regardless, it’s pretty clear to me that I’ve been represented in terms of visual data in ways that I hadn’t thoroughly considered.

In the way of big data, visualizations really seem to draw consideration from ad targeting, in large part, due to the lexical content that supplement them. In the case of my pictures, key words associated in their corresponding tags, such as “girlfriend”, “sunglasses”, “pet”, or “hedgehog”, are where I would imagine that my data are really quantified, collected, compiled, and analyzed for patterns. Ultimately, it’s safe to say that—at least from a glance–advertisements might know about as much about me as anyone else.