{"id":70561,"date":"2013-03-13T12:05:21","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T12:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.strattoncraig.com\/insight\/secrets-revealed-from-likes-on-facebook\/"},"modified":"2013-03-13T12:05:21","modified_gmt":"2013-03-13T12:05:21","slug":"secrets-revealed-from-likes-on-facebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.strattoncraig.com\/us\/insight\/secrets-revealed-from-likes-on-facebook\/","title":{"rendered":"Have you unwittingly revealed secrets just by ‘liking’ on Facebook?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s official \u2013 the bods at Facebook know if you\u2019re neurotic, you\u2019ve got a high IQ and you\u2019re guilty secret is a love of One Direction.<\/strong>
\nA study has revealed that by \u2018liking\u2019 posts or joining groups, Facebook users are revealing more about themselves than they realise and it\u2019s an unsettling thought. From drug use to political standpoints, sexuality to IQ – activity on the world\u2019s biggest social media<\/a> platform is very telling according to Microsoft Research, which studied publically-available data from 58,000 users in the US.
\nCambridge University analyst and report author Michal Kosinski found patterns that revealed personal details, including traits and preferences that in some cases had been deliberately hidden from public view by users.
\nOf his fascinating findings, Kosinski said: \u201cEveryone carries around their Facebook \u2018likes\u2019, their browsing history and their search history, trusting that it will be used [by corporations] to predict their movies or music tastes.
\n\u201cBut if you ask about governments, I am not sure people would like them to predict things like religion or sexuality, especially in less peaceful or illiberal countries,\u201d he added.
\nHe makes a very good point.
\nWhile the results of the study might make for uncomfortable reading, it proves that we can\u2019t \u2018like\u2019 our cake, eat it and not expect to get fat.
\nThe cake<\/strong>
\nTake Google for instance, its clever algorithms are constantly being developed to give users the most personalised search results possible, based on web activity, whether or not you have a gmail account (and therefore whether you\u2019re signed in when you\u2019re browsing or not) and, increasingly, on what you and your friends and connections are doing, liking, recommending and sharing on social media platforms. The outputs are Google Instant \u2013 the suggestions that drop down as you type in the search box and the results you get before you press \u2018Enter\u2019, and Personalised Search \u2013 the results you see based on search history and identified habits and preferences.
\nLiking it and eating it<\/strong>
\nThese features are useful, they speed things up and generally improve the relevancy of what you see on page one, and for most people Google\u2019s activity behind the screen goes unnoticed. However, should the search engine take these away, there\u2019s no doubt we\u2019d notice and probably not be very happy.
\nGetting fat<\/strong>
\nSo we take this use of our data as a given, in the main we like how it\u2019s used and we don\u2019t question it, but using the same algorithms to identify personal information and traits could spark outrage, despite it being the result of the same theories and the same technology behind those features we love.
\nSo, how do you feel about being categorised based on what you \u2018like\u2019 on Facebook? And did you know that you\u2019re already seeing targeted adverts based on your age, \u2018likes\u2019 and the words you\u2019ve used to describe yourself in your profile? Leave us your thoughts in the comments box (we promise not to use your views to send you stuff we think you\u2019ll like).
\nSample results from the study, as published at thedrum.com:
\nHigh IQ
\nThe Godfather
\nLord of the Rings
\nThe Daily Show
\nLow IQ
\nHarley Davidson
\nI Love Being a Mom
\nTyler Perry
\nHomosexual Males
\nWicked the Musical
\nNo H8 Campaign
\nHuman Rights Campaign
\nHomosexual Females
\nNot Being Pregnant
\nThe L Word
\nSometimes I Just Lay in Bed and Think About Life\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s official \u2013 the bods at Facebook know if you\u2019re neurotic, you\u2019ve got a high IQ and you\u2019re guilty secret is a love of One Direction. A study has revealed that by \u2018liking\u2019 posts or joining groups, Facebook users are revealing more about themselves than they realise and it\u2019s an unsettling thought. From drug use […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[448,312],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-digital-copywriting-us","category-social-media-copywriting-us"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHave you unwittingly revealed secrets just by 'liking' on Facebook? - Stratton Craig - Global Copywriting & Content Marketing Agency<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.strattoncraig.com\/us\/insight\/secrets-revealed-from-likes-on-facebook\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Have you unwittingly revealed secrets just by 'liking' on Facebook? - Stratton Craig - Global Copywriting & Content Marketing Agency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s official \u2013 the bods at Facebook know if you\u2019re neurotic, you\u2019ve got a high IQ and you\u2019re guilty secret is a love of One Direction. 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