Post #2

One source that researches the idea of personalized advertising and its workings is  The International Journal of Consumer Studies. The journal reports, “When I receive personalized advertising I feel curious and uncomfortable because the advertisers got my personal information without letting me know.” (Cude & Yu, 2009) Personalized advertising really gets under peoples' skin, exploring the really personal sides of people and revealing things about one's interests, hobbies, skills...etc. This journal examines the more emotional and  reactionary side of personal advertising, how people feel and describe it. I wasn't at all surprised by this journal's findings, as I myself have felt uncomfortable by some of the personal advertising that has been sent my way. Companies use Facebook and Twitter to monopolize their business, gathering information about their consumers through public knowledge on social media sites and then using it to their advantage.
 

Post #1

The topic of social media today is a very interesting one; more closely, the effects of

advertisements on social media sites and how advertisers target an intended audience. The main focus of this project is figuring out how companies decide whose profiles to publicize their ads on, and how “personalized advertising” works.  Research has shown that advertisers tend to publicize their products on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, three of the most used and looked at social networking sites. Advertisers spend much of their budget, paying popular bloggers to write posts about specific products. Social Media sites like Twitter and Facebook have also began pitching new advertising plans to companies, involving more interactive and intuitive marketing tools, such as surveys and multiple choice polls. Companies try and gain as much information as possible, in order to collect personal information about their potential consumer. This topic is a very current, and in today's world of media and internet obsession its important to understand the process and effects of everyday doings. The image below is an example of the "like" logo from Facebook, which companies use to gage what their consumer likes and dislikes.