It's not like I've told it about my preferences. And though I have added gay friends and lovers to my Facebook, it's not like they've been whispering in the mainframe's ear about what I've been up to.
Right?...
It certainly feels like someone's tipped them off (though in reality there is no way). Yet, the tone of the magical site has changed. More and more, I've been exposed to gay-themed advertising on Facebook's sidebars, and I'm starting to really wonder about it.
Take, for example, this ad:
I snatched this image just today, after clicking onto the site's Home Newsfeed. What I first noticed was how hot the guys were...then I shook my head and realized it was an advert for an online gay dating site, sitting idly by on the overly-heterosexual Facebook page.
I studied it for a moment, puzzled. I mean, why advertise gay dating on Facebook, a place that, statistically, would be skewed to the more populous heterosexual audience. It makes no sense...well, very little sense, anyway. Even the photo is slightly (and I mean Miley Cyrus slightly) provocative...two boys who appear to be naked, seen from the bare shoulders up! Maybe Annie Leibovitz is involved...
Naturally, I kept an eye on things over the past few weeks (with the promise of more hot boy photos), and realized that I've been bombarded with gay-centred advertising the entire time. Ads for dating sites, gay social networking sites, even gay Student Unions.
But why so much gay on Facebook?
When I clicked the 'more ads' link, I was treated to a full description of those pesky boxes. There are, this evening, 24 different ads posted. Of those, two are explicitly gay. There are 10 ads aimed at straight men looking for anything from casual sex to a romantic relationship. The other 12 are a mash of wine society advertising, college ads, and other various products/services/entertainment.
So what, you say. Two whole ads, and he writes a post about it?
But it's more than that, in my mind. Sort of amazing to see that, remarkably, the gay audience is being advertised to in 'normal' areas. This isn't a niche gay site, this is the all-inclusive Facebook. Everyone has Facebook.
Even the way the advertising is done differs little from the 'straight' ads for dating sites. It's like they're *gasp* on the same playing field. There is no implied promiscuity, no negative stereotypes skewing the image of the gay ads. They exist as if equal to the straight ones, in both content and in acceptance of things as the 'norm'.
So is this a sign of things to come? Does it mean that the younger generation - my generation - has become so accustomed to gays that it isn't the least bit strange that gay-centric advertising is popping up in their otherwise heterosexually-dominated site?
Admittedly, it's only two ads, and compared to the number of straight-dating ones, it's small. But it really speaks volumes to me about where the ads are popping up. When I clicked refresh on the page once more, I was exposed to an ad for a guitar festival, one I haven't seen before.
But for the most part, I apparently am just prone to getting the gay ones.
11 comments:
I noticed the same thing today!!
Although, I have my status as interested in men... I thought the ads just became targeted
Well I had noticed the same thing in the past, although I've just had a quick look now and all of the dating adverts on mine are aimed at straight guys.
I think the ads are targetted based on things like your interests and activities you've listed... For example, I've got an advert for a singer I've listed in my favourite music, and a couple to do with running, which is down in my activities box.
I've been hit as well, and theres no gayness on my profile???? :-P
It's not based on your profile from what I can tell. But on cookies you have stored on your browser. it happens to me too. Facebook may not know you're gay but other gay sites you visit also store cookies and most of the advertising is generally done by a few major companies.
If it were an embedded facebook TEXT ad, like those in the news feed then I'd be worried but banners are not.
So it's a porn meter then... haha
Im pretty sure that it is based on your cookies stored on your browser like Jay said. I've had his conversation before with many people before.
All those damn Connexion ads.....don't they know that I am ALREADY ON CONNEXION!
HAHA!
Yeh but I clear my cache and cookies daily, I recon it looks at you friends and does some assumption. Its facebooks new target advertising modal
Yeb!
The ads are indeed targeted based on your basic information and interests. If you go to the bottom of your profile and click on Advertisers you can enter a random website, after which they will request you to set the target audience. So the ads are sort of personalized, much like the ads in Gmail.
Clever marketing, but at the same time its scary to think that so much of your information may be out there for all to see. Creepy.
It is pretty much all of the factors mentioned in the above comments. I work at a big advertising media agency and we work with many sites doing this. I think the technical term for it is like behavioral targeting or some bullshit like that but it is super creepy how things like that can be tracked through the computer. Towards the end of college when I came out I started looking at more gay sites and made my FB profile gay and I was sitting in my friends kitchen one day telling them how I thought FB knew I was gay and they thought I was crazy...but it does!
By the way I just found your blog today and like it a lot!
in a recent survey 90% said most dating sites could offer better protection against scammers
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it is well known that some dating sites turn blind eye to bogus profile in their books
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