The Curly Fry Conundrum

               The Ted Talk "The Curly Fry Conundrum: Why Social Media Likes Mean More than You Think" by Jennifer Golbeck discusses the ways companies and scientists are able to obtain information about internet users simply through the use of social media, specifically through Facebook "likes". Companies are able to monitor everything we do online and then modify the products they target towards us depending on our likes and interests. Jennifer Golbeck stressed this point with the example of how Target knew a fifteen year old was pregnant before her parents did by tracking her web searches and purchasing history. The amount of information about our personal lives that is leaked to companies for them to use for their personal gain grows everyday as technology becomes more and more advanced and prevalent in our lives.

                I was not surprised by the information presented in the Ted talk. For the past few months I have actually been noticing how advertisements on my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram seem to be more tailored to my likes and interests. My initial reaction was that I agreed with what Jennifer Golbeck was saying and I was curious to learn how companies figure out my likes and dislikes based on social media.

                I think that I might come across as a young adult female that enjoys shopping and fashion based on my web searches, and the advertisements that I noticed seem to be specifically targeted at me. Most of my web searches, whether on Google or Facebook, have to do with clothing, jewelry, or shoes. I have noticed that Facebook, which offers advertisements on the right-hand side of their homepage, tailors their ads to what I have been searching recently. At first I thought it was a coincidence, until it continued to happen. For example, I had been searching Alex and Ani bracelets on Google and I was exploring the Alex and Ani website. A few hours later, I went on Facebook and in my side advertisements was an ad for Alex and Ani bracelets. I thought to myself "wow how did Facebook know what I was thinking? It's like they read my mind!" until another time when I had been exploring on the Disney website and a Disney link came up in the ads.

                I find this level of privacy invasion mildly disturbing. It is strange to think that every search I make on the internet is being tracked and monitored and that companies may know more about me than some of my friends do. I think that one of the main ethical issues is invasion of privacy. Yet if we as internet users make the information public and available then why shouldn't companies be allowed to check our social media and discover our interests? An ethical issue discussed by Jennifer Golbeck is trying to resolve this invasion of privacy yet continue to get information. She brought up the point that companies like Twitter and Facebook could make everything private but users are considered "products" and the companies receiving information would be consumers because they are able to target the users from the information received.

                I have experienced several other ways that the internet has tracked what I do. For example, the popular app Instagram has recently started posting advertisements to users' timelines with advertisements based on specific users' interests. Most of the advertisements that come up on my Instagram are for hair products or jewelry whereas one of my guy friends advertisements range from watches to cars. Another way the internet has tracked us is through the input of our information to create an account. I have often received spam mail from companies after entering my email to create an account for a website. These tactics used by companies to receive our information will most likely continue to grow in the future so as users we must be mindful about the information we reveal about ourselves on the internet.​

Value of Self

           For the next six weeks I will be participating in the Accelerated Summer College at Saint Michael’s College. I am currently taking two courses that consist of both class time and online coursework. I am a Psychology major with a minor in Business. During the ACS Program, I will be taking Social Psychology and Marketing in order to fulfill requirements for both my major and my minor.

            Over the course of the six weeks that I am attending this program, I hope to learn skills both in and outside of the classroom through both the courses that I am taking and the programs being offered Student Life and the Wilderness Program. I am very excited to be taking Social Psychology as I have always been fascinated by the social aspect of psychology but have never gotten the opportunity to take class in it. I intend to focus on the social aspect of psych and taking a class will be a good way for me to figure out if that is exactly what I enjoy learning about. What I am really hoping to learn in social psychology is the reasons why humans can have such different reactions to certain situations and what causes these reactions. I am also looking forward to taking Marketing. I would like to focus on the marketing side of business for my minor and this class will be very interesting for me because it involves doing real work with outside businesses. I am excited to be actually working with companies rather than just taking tests and quizzes on the reading because testing has never been one of my strengths. I took an intro business course during my last semester and enjoyed the marketing aspect and actually marketing the product that we sold using different promotional techniques like posters, radio ads, and social media. My goals for outside the classroom are to get involved in both the Wilderness Program and MOVE. I am hoping to learn how to kayak and climb. I would also like to participate in service projects through MOVE like serving food to those in needs. My goals for this summer program are to excel in both of my classes, learn how to kayak and climb, better my computer skills through the online coursework, and build connections and experiences that I can put on my resume and use throughout my life.

            I will bring value to the Accelerated Summer College by bringing a positive attitude and a strong desire to learn. During class time, I hope to be a positive influence on my peers by being involved in class discussions and work. I am hoping that my classmates and I will encourage and push each other to learn more and truly make the most of our time here at Saint Mikes. I am a team player and enjoy working with other people so I hope that I can share my enthusiasm for marketing and social psychology and my desire to learn with peers.

            The Accelerated Summer College is so different from any kind of educational program I have ever been involved in and I am excited to start this new adventure in my life!