Predictive Analytics

Every brush stroke I make on my computer is being collected and stored in a database that has labeled me a twenty-something, collegiate girl who has a dog and an unhealthy Harry Potter obsession. While at first it would seem that this would not be useful to businesses and corporations, I am a statistic for them, connecting lines between interests, places, and activities. For example, if they see I’m a young person and love animals, so perhaps environmental non-profits would target me. Barnes and Noble would target me for books that are Young Adult and fantasy (even though they’d be wrong – Harry Potter is the only fantasy fiction I’ve ever enjoyed). Based on how my clicks online paint me as a person, businesses can make assumptions about me and send me pointed ads that they know I’m more likely to click on than, say, my mother.

I know that I am being targeted online; it’s not a possibility, it’s a reality. To be honest, though, it doesn’t really bother me, besides when I’m trying to stop spending money. When I use Amazon Prime, every time I click on an item, they suggest other items that might interest me. Most of the time, they’re right. I go on Amazon to buy “indestructible” toys for my pitbull and always end up buying him three because they know exactly where my priorities lie (less in my savings account, more in a giant, fluffy head). I notice trends all the time in the videos and ads I’m suggested; when I have a long conversation on Facebook with my French cousins, I get French ads. When I was looking for dresses for my dads wedding, the exact dress I pinned on Pinterest appeared on the side of my Facebook from a different store. There are times, though, that the interests they think I have are not always accurate. For example, I am guilty of clicking on so many Donald Trump videos out general disbelief of the things he says. This leads to me having more Trump videos on my newsfeed and even campaign emails in my inbox. 

Though I’m wary of how people are using my data, I probably won’t really change anything that I do online because the more I do, the more accurate their assumptions about me will be, making their targeted ads more accurate. Obviously, there is stuff I’m embarrassed about and wouldn’t want my friends or employers to know, but if I’m just an anonymous tally in a massive database, nothing I do is going to change that.