Anyone notice something different about Facebook political ads?

So, as we all know and have discussed ad nauseam, Face page and every other 'social media' site tailors your news feed to your own preferences, based on your existing bias.  So right wing people get lot's of right leaning 'news' and adverts, while left leaning people get lot's of left wing leaning news and ads.  Well this week something has changed on face page.  I am suddenly getting dozens and dozens of ads which are the polar opposite of my beliefs.  Lot's of click bait asking if I think this person or party is off the rails, or lots for do you support and think this person is doing a good job.  In all cases they want you to vote or fill out a 1-2-3 question multiple choice.  In all cases they want your name, email and phone number.  Have I inadvertently broken the algorithm (yeah) or more likely has the 'opposition' figured out a way to target me to try and change my views, or more sinister are they trying to gather my info (of course I'm not stupid enough to actually fill anything out) to target me somehow?  Also is the same happening for people of the opposite persuasion?  

I really don't want this to turn political.  I'm not asking about or commenting on politics, this is about ad targeting and profiling which just happens to be based on political beliefs.  I am very carefully not mentioning people, parties, or events here.

They're probably trying to rile you up so you'll click on something, anything. 

I don't facebook, but assuming the recommended reading by Pocket on my Mozilla start page is targeted, it's always been exactly 180 degrees to my inclinations.

I mean, why would they bother showing you stuff you agree with?  The objective of advertising has always been to persuade.

Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:

They're probably trying to rile you up so you'll click on something, anything. 

This. They're trying to push metaverse publicly, Bob knows what new evil E36 M3 they're doing privately, but drama and outrage generate clicks which generate dollars. 

I also wouldn't put it past them to be working on election manipulation strategies for the mid terms this year since the majority of people are running out of berkeleys to give about covid and need something to be distracted by and argumentative about.

RevRico said:

I also wouldn't put it past them to be working on election manipulation strategies for the mid terms this year since the majority of people are running out of berkeleys to give about covid and need something to be distracted by and argumentative about.

Ouch, that's scary but probably true.

Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:

They're probably trying to rile you up so you'll click on something, anything. 

I agree with this.  Remember, the job of Facebook (and most social media) isn't to inform, entertain, or educate.  It is to keep you scrolling and clicking for as long as possible. 

RevRico said:

Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:

They're probably trying to rile you up so you'll click on something, anything. 

This. They're trying to push metaverse publicly, Bob knows what new evil E36 M3 they're doing privately, but drama and outrage generate clicks which generate dollars. 

I also wouldn't put it past them to be working on election manipulation strategies for the mid terms this year since the majority of people are running out of berkeleys to give about covid and need something to be distracted by and argumentative about.

Right- it's a way to make money.  I'd bet that someone looked at the analytics and saw the opportunity to make someone mad and run down a rabbit hole- to generate ad views.

Considering the spammers here, it seems like an easier way than posting canoes here.

I get almost zero political advertisement on Facebook. But I might have broke the algorithms. 

It's extremely rare that I see anything I would consider political coming from FB.

Lot's of ads and most of them completely wrong and totally off base. But nothing political.

I just looked.

Quick easy loans. I'm financially very comfortable.

Home Depot - I think not

Magnotta winery. I berkeleying despise wine

Chrysler Canada. Really?

BMW Canada. LOL

Harley Davidson. LOLOLOLOLOL

I do more FB than I should, but I honestly haven't noticed any change in the targeted ads. I don't really get any political ads at all, from either POV. 

I don't normally post of faceballs as my life isn't of interest to the wider world.  I more of a scroller and thumbs up clicker on stuff I like.  I guess I've clicked 'like' on too many posts supporting 'my side' so the ZuckerBORG has identified me as someone with too much interest in Politics.  Damn, I need to uninstall faceprick again and go cold turkey like I did for a couple of years after algorithm screwed me in the past, which I've posted about on here previously.  

Absolutely agree with the previous observations, that the intention is to cause you to have a negative reaction. 

1. all advertising has the goal of manipulating behavior. 

2. I've read reports on studies showing that outrage and resentment is far more motivating than positive messages. 

I'll choose to stop here before I step over the line, but before I go, I'll mention that I see zero political ads in my fake book feed.

I'm sure that I've been subjected to a few but I've never slowed down to even look at them, so my guess is that the algorithm isn't sending any. 

Further guessing that it also may even depend on the activities of people that you follow or have friended. 

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

You don't need to stop- nothing you say is remotely political.  It's behavioral science.  

IIRC, way back when Howard Stern was on the radio- one of the reasons he stayed on air was the likelihood that he said "something" kept his haters listening- more than the people who like him.  Behavior is odd.

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

I once heard way back, that someone who loves Howard Stern listens for an average of 45min. Some who hates Stern listens for an hour and a half.

There must be something wrong with me then.

I hated Stern, and wouldn't listen to him under any circumstances.

Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:

I get almost zero political advertisement on Facebook. But I might have broke the algorithms. 

Me neither, but I also try to poison their algorithm on purpose when ads do show up.

I think it is just the big zucker giving a discount advertising rate to right wing nut cases because he is a greedy sob.  He has made a ton of money in the past playing nice with them, just starting up the game for the mid terms.  Want to foil it?  Click hide the ad and ignore.  The worst thing you can do to an advertiser is pretend they arent there.

I once got an add for a kit for practicing sutures. I have no idea why that came up. Rather disappointed that it has never reappeared. It was quite intriguing - synthetic skin and simulated blood vessels meant to be used with real medical tools.

When I am really bored I will go through and report every ad I see as offensive. Doesn't matter if it is something I would buy or not. All adds are offensive and I report them as such.

I abandoned my old FB account a few years ago and started a new one.  My policy since then has been to have zero friends.  Not figuratively, literally- zero.  I then locked down my account so that no one could send me a friend request unless they were a friend.  Well, guess what?  If I have no friends...then no one can send me a friend request.  Since then I've used FB exclusively for a) Marketplace, and b) Groups, of which zero are political (mostly car-related). 

This technique has worked remarkably well for me.  I get almost no political messaging.  Mrs VCH still has a more "normal" FB experience, with friends, etc.  One thing she's noticed is that the "friends" with which she has opposite political beliefs tend to have their posts amplified in her feed.  Likely the reasoning is, as others have posited, to encourage her to engage with those people, thus feeding The Algorithm, generating clicks and increasing traffic and, thus, $$$.  I've encouraged her to unfriend people who cannot hold logical, coherent, civilized discourse and who routinely post inflammatory things.  What's good for FB is certainly damaging for people's mental health.

porschenut said:

I think it is just the big zucker giving a discount advertising rate to right wing nut cases because he is a greedy sob.  He has made a ton of money in the past playing nice with them, just starting up the game for the mid terms.  Want to foil it?  Click hide the ad and ignore.  The worst thing you can do to an advertiser is pretend they arent there.

I know plenty of people with more right-leaning views who are presented with left wing nut case advertising, and posts by left wing nut jobs, on FB.  The Algorithm doesn't care.  Follow the money. 

Not necessarily about the political ads, but I just read THIS Slate article that discusses FB's usage of member's data. While I'm on FB a fair bit I don't see (or notice) any political ads. Based on my FBM feed (Enablers Unanimous members, am I right?) I'm pretty sure FB thinks I am an extremely weird car lover.

volvoclearinghouse said:

I abandoned my old FB account a few years ago and started a new one.  My policy since then has been to have zero friends.  Not figuratively, literally- zero.  I then locked down my account so that no one could send me a friend request unless they were a friend.  Well, guess what?  If I have no friends...then no one can send me a friend request.  Since then I've used FB exclusively for a) Marketplace, and b) Groups, of which zero are political (mostly car-related). 

This technique has worked remarkably well for me.  I get almost no political messaging.  Mrs VCH still has a more "normal" FB experience, with friends, etc.  One thing she's noticed is that the "friends" with which she has opposite political beliefs tend to have their posts amplified in her feed.  Likely the reasoning is, as others have posited, to encourage her to engage with those people, thus feeding The Algorithm, generating clicks and increasing traffic and, thus, $$$.  I've encouraged her to unfriend people who cannot hold logical, coherent, civilized discourse and who routinely post inflammatory things.  What's good for FB is certainly damaging for people's mental health.

I have unfriended and unfollowed numerous people over the last two years. But I find myself using BookFace less and less anyway. It used to be a nice way to keep up with friends and family who aren't nearby, now even those people want to argue over everything. Or constantly post political rants, to which I normally just respond with:

"When was the last time someone's opinion on social media changed YOUR mind?"

I don't understand this overarching desire to need people to agree with you. Do people have so little self-esteem, that's how they get validation now?

You can check to see why an ad was targeted to you.

I'm guessing age/race/location demographics.

Click on the elipsis in the upper right hand corner and click on why am I seeing this crap?

Example:

z31maniac said:

volvoclearinghouse said:

I abandoned my old FB account a few years ago and started a new one.  My policy since then has been to have zero friends.  Not figuratively, literally- zero.  I then locked down my account so that no one could send me a friend request unless they were a friend.  Well, guess what?  If I have no friends...then no one can send me a friend request.  Since then I've used FB exclusively for a) Marketplace, and b) Groups, of which zero are political (mostly car-related). 

This technique has worked remarkably well for me.  I get almost no political messaging.  Mrs VCH still has a more "normal" FB experience, with friends, etc.  One thing she's noticed is that the "friends" with which she has opposite political beliefs tend to have their posts amplified in her feed.  Likely the reasoning is, as others have posited, to encourage her to engage with those people, thus feeding The Algorithm, generating clicks and increasing traffic and, thus, $$$.  I've encouraged her to unfriend people who cannot hold logical, coherent, civilized discourse and who routinely post inflammatory things.  What's good for FB is certainly damaging for people's mental health.

I have unfriended and unfollowed numerous people over the last two years. But I find myself using BookFace less and less anyway. It used to be a nice way to keep up with friends and family who aren't nearby, now even those people want to argue over everything. Or constantly post political rants, to which I normally just respond with:

"When was the last time someone's opinion on social media changed YOUR mind?"

I don't understand this overarching desire to need people to agree with you. Do people have so little self-esteem, that's how they get validation now?

Interestingly, one person has changed my political views somewhat via facebook. This person is related to a prominent, and hated-by-one-faction politician that everybody here knows of. They fall in line with their relative, and I used to lean that direction. But seeing their posts and lack of real world experience - lack of any real hardship in their life - has made me realize that these people are morons who have no freaking clue, and made me lean the other way. On a national vote, it won't change a thing, but locally it changes quite a lot.