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Comment by andai | Hacker News Reader

Kinda offtopic but Instagram's ads changed my attitude towards ads, and my attitude towards Facebook's creepy level of insight into my life and personality. If they have that data anyway -- and hundreds of companies do -- I might as well benefit from it, and Instagram's ads were the first ones that I actually found interesting. First of all, it was obvious when something was an ad. Second, they weren't intrusive or obnoxious. And third, they showed me cool stuff I actually wanted to buy! It was actually an enjoyable experience and that's so weird to say about ads.

The surveillance part still creeps me the hell out, but if they're gonna do it anyway they might as well use that data to benefit my life.

(On that note, I often find myself wishing I could ask the NSA for a copy of an old message or photo...)

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Personally, I don't particularly care if companies have my data. However, I vehemently don't want them to use it for algorithmic recommendations—including ads—because it puts me in a filter bubble.

All these technology companies are making assumptions about the type of person I am, and then molding me into that person. I can't learn about topics I don't see, so if the tech giants are convinced I like technology and computers, that's all I will ever learn about.

Maybe I'd be happier if I took up ballet dancing, or basket-weaving, or something else I can't begin to imagine. That seems much less likely to happen when I'm trapped in an algorithmic box, that assumes my past will dictate my future.

Help! I'm stuck in a local maxima and I can't tell how to escape!

My recent Amazon experience when I bought a stereo audio mixer: "Here, look at 50 other stereo audio mixers even though we know you already bought one! And also have data showing you viewed all of these and didn't buy them!"

On some level the way company's advertise is basically an argument against them having my data being a threat, because they can't manage to come up with anything better then that, in a product space where there's a whole massive ecosystem of technology which might be useful to me.

And thats...really just me complaining about the ads not targeting well. Like, I am quite interested in knowing if my nascent desktop audio management could be better! I don't know what's out there, and I've given you a price range estimate through how long I searched before spending!

But see, they're still putting you in a box! Now you will be more likely to encounter stereo mixers than other types of products. Sure, it's obvious and on a small scale, but when every website is doing it, what's the cumulative affect?

Choice is good. I've certainly groaned at my share of ads on traditional television, and so I can understand why someone might find targeted ads preferable. I just don't share that desire!

Amazon in particular irks me because they don't give you a choice, no matter how deep you dig into settings! You can turn off browsing history, but it's stored in a cookie per-device and also seems to randomly come back on sometimes. Even then, they'll still use your purchase history for recommendations. I used to manually go through and mark everything I bought as a gift, and this worked for a while—but then Amazon apparently decided I'd given to many gifts and started ignoring the signal.

Precisely why I tend to look for inspiration in real life rather than social media. Facebook keeps showing me ads for synths and other electronic music related stuff, while in real life I have already moved on to classical music.

I think life in a big city can be your "social feed" without any bias. A big city can offer so many things and ideas if you just go out, meet random people and listen to what they say.

By blocking Facebook tracking me around the web, I now see ads for things my girlfriend might be interested in as we share an IP address. Makes for more interesting adverts and I get a better idea of gifts to buy her.

> If they have that data anyway -- and hundreds of companies do -- I might as well benefit from it, and Instagram's ads were the first ones that I actually found interesting.

I always feel a little depressed when someone describes being more effectively manipulated as "benefiting."

Subjectively it's the difference between "why am I getting ads for pregnancy tests and skirts, I'm a basement-dwelling troglodyte" and "wtf, they're actually showing me things I'd want to buy (if I had money)".

Joke's on them either way, they somehow haven't figured out I'm broke! But the difference is between "spying + garbage ads" and "spying + a bunch of cool shit I didn't even know existed" I'm gonna go for the latter.

Obviously the correct answer is neither: just use Adblock and/or pay for services you use and enjoy. For example I paid for YouTube premium so I could get an ad-free experience on mobile (because YouTube ads are somehow both horribly intrusive and horribly irrelevant, despite Google's apparent omniscience!).

By all accounts Google should know much more about me than Facebook does, but somehow their ads invoke a response somewhere between mild irritation and outright rage and disgust. Meanwhile on Instagram: "hey, I really like this backpack", "wtf they're selling psilocybin in capsules now? And I can just buy it? Nobody even told me that existed! Thanks Instagram!" Like I said, that was a pretty surreal moment for me.

Anecdotal evidence, but my experience with IG ads was very different. I ordered stuff (mostly clothing) a few times (4 or 5) from IG ads and was very disappointed with the quality and service every single time. I now refuse to fall for IG ads ever again.

IG certainly doesn’t vet their advertisers very well. But what do they care if it’s a scam, they got paid.

I second this, the only ads I’ve ever willingly clicked/tapped on with the intention of buying were from Instagram

And that is quite a feat given how little information I hace willingly given Facebook compared to how I - until a few years ago - more or less volunteeres my data to Google.

Google knew everything about it and yet couldn't manage to serve anything but the sleaziest ads.

Instagram got the table scraps and yet convinced me to buy at least one thing that I'm actually happy with.

Yep, seconded. Stopped using FB years ago and I use Instagram for two of my passions - tiny houses and boobs. And, somehow, Instagram figured out that I wanted to buy a Remarkable 2 ;)

But yeah, joking aside, Instagram was the one of few places I actually saw ads of things I wanted to buy. Sure, the ads tried to rip my eyes out for those products ($50 for a product I found for $5) but still...

As an aside, people complain that Twitter is a toxic place, but if you exclusively subscribe to art accounts, it's one of the most beautiful places on the internet.

Asian artists are an even safer bet: they only post art. How refreshing!

You know, I do see a lot shit on Twitter but somehow my brain has given the low value, spam etc tweets the "advertisement treatment" - I tune it out, don't "see" it.

Any artists in particular you'd recommend?

> And, somehow, Instagram figured out that I wanted to buy a Remarkable 2

The Remarkable website uses the Facebook tracking javascript. If you had visited the Remarkable website then it would know to advertise to you.

That's probably it, yeah. Still, surprising that only Instagram figured the RM2 angle out.

Is it perhaps you since instagram is showing you a lot of ads, your just skipping the ones you don't care for and finding ones you like. Thus you are under the impression instagram ads are interesting. Or perhaps they're using the facebook data to feed you ads. You don't have to give facebook much, it can make a lot of assumptions based on your network.

In the early days of facebook, they sent me an email to join with 20 people I might know. I knew 19 of them. I have no illusions , facebook knows a ton about me. Even without a profile.

I found the ads on instagram quite intrusive and not relivant (they're the same size as a post), but that's just me ( I don't have a facebook so they can't correlate). I also find quite a few news sites almost unreadable with all the ads.

Funnily, I always had the impression that Instagram main (maybe only?) purpose was to watch ads ("influencers" as they call them these days), so I figured out they must be pretty good ads since people are coming there just for them ;)

> The surveillance part still creeps me the hell out, but if they're gonna do it anyway they might as well use that data to benefit my life.

This is such a defeatist narrative, and it isn't even accurate. They in fact don't have your data, that is half why they run these services. Each service you don't use is another piece of you they don't have. It isn't an all or nothing proposition. Throwing up your hands and granting them powers they don't have short circuits the more meaningful deliberation of "is this service worth the cost?"

If I had to guess, I might say that these companies enjoy the strong men we have built them into, because people give in.

Instagram ads are the most obnoxious out of all social media. When looking at stories they often come up every other user. The volume alone is absurd.

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