I’ve been doubting my sexuality lately and I freaked out when Google recommended an ad with LGBT couple on it. Not even my friends or family know that side of me.
Oh, it’s been proven Google and corporate social medias (and Walmart?!?) can figure out that stuff before you do.
you’re thinking of target, specifically telling dad that daughter is pregnant. its this store thats identical to walmart and sells the same stuff from the same sweatshops, but its kept slightly cleaner and so middle class people who want to feel better than the poors who shop at walmart shop there, but its basically the same store with a 20-30% markup.
Yes, that’s the story I was thinking of.
Sometimes avoiding the Walmartians feels worth the markup
If youve been looking around on search engines and stuff or various websites. Yeah. Theyll know. If youre talking to friends… Shhh its right behind you… Google is the monster under your bed. Dont forget to leave google some cookies. (Pun not intended) And ignore the scary red light that suspiciously looks like the red light from daedric portals.
I got a little silly part way thru but anyway. Have had similar things happen while looking for myself through my own lgbtq journey once in a while.
I can understand being freaked out by that for sure. Think of it like this, you might like similar artists and articles that LGBT folks like. Maybe you click on more links on stories that affect LGBT folks. But also, lots of ads have LGBT couples nowadays, it’s what gets the red hats so upset. Either way, it’s nothing to be ashamed or worried about, and there’s at least a chance that you took something to be more deeply targeted at you than it really was. Chin up there, yeah?
What really upset me though was the privacy aspect of it. Imagine your friend wants to show you a meme or something, and you suddenly see an ad with an LGBT couple on it on his/her phone. If that was me I would immediately think they’re being targeted with that ad for a reason. And like, I don’t have a problem being part of the LGBT community, but this thing could out me to everyone without me being ready you know? What if I want to play a YouTube video for my family and I get a targeted recommendation? That would be a problem for me.
I’m going to push back against everyone saying that the algorithm knows. While not unthinkable, I believe it is much more likely that it is a coincidence, and what you’re experiencing is called the frequency illusion. Simply because your sexuality has been on your mind lately, you’re more likely to notice things that remind you of it - not because those things are more prevalent but simply because you, subconsciously, pay more attention to them.
That said, privacy is important and you should definitely try to maintain it - e.g. use a private browser window in a fresh browser instance to research things related to sexuality.
Yeah, the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon is fascinating and something that I experience constantly. I would be surprised if that’s not what’s going on here. I’ve never experienced it for something as personal and important as doubting my sexuality though, that must be jarring as hell.
