# Privacy and Self-Stalking ## Basketball Related Search Results The first website that is found when I look up my name is the [Northeastern Women's Basketball Roster](https://nuhuskies.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/izzy-larsen/7614) ![](https://i.imgur.com/tz7Bghw.jpg) My [ESPN profile](https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4705028/izzy-larsen) also shows up in my search results ![](https://i.imgur.com/hvziGWz.png) ## Social Media Links My search results also included links to my personal Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, FaceBook, and Pinterest, but I am choosing to not include the links to them. ## Spokeo Search I went through the process of searching for myself on Spokeo, but once the results had finished loading, I was prompted to pay in order to see them ![](https://i.imgur.com/ahLhwbI.png) ## What Every Browser Knows About Me On this [webpage](https://webkay.robinlinus.com/), I found the information on removing the metadata availability from your photos to be the most interesting and useful. I get very nervous and uneasy about people having the ability to access information about me through my posts on different social media platforms ## Google Privacy This area of Google Privacy was extremely interesting to me. The privacy center gives you the option to choose whether or not you would like to have personalized search results and advertisements that are catered towards what Google believes your interests to be ![](https://i.imgur.com/JWJcmUE.png) ### My Activity Here are the results of what my privacy looks like for my different search history options ![](https://i.imgur.com/3PsFq3x.png) ### Timeline in Google Maps There were no results in this section, as I have my location history deactivated on Google ### Google Ad Preferences I was not surprised by the things that Google tries to cater my ads towards. The ads are broken up into three sections: topics, brands, and sensitive. Here is the section for topics: ![](https://i.imgur.com/nYf2NB8.jpg) These are fairly in keeping with my interests Here is the section for brands: ![](https://i.imgur.com/cIwqZcI.png) This section made me laugh, as I have been heavily shopping for a new pair of shoes and Taylor Swift concert tickets recently Here are the results for my sensitive topic preferences: ![](https://i.imgur.com/VKFkm7c.png) ## Response Is anything truly "private" anymore? Rich Haridy dives into this concept in his [article](https://newatlas.com/computers/facebook-not-secretly-listening-conversations/) that discusses the ever evolving argument of whether or not FaceBook and our iPhones are listening to us. The overall consensus that Haridy comes to in the article is that our phones do not listen to us, but they actually have more authority over our private information than we realize. Many apps have the ability to share what we see on our screens and what we are searching for on apps and in browsers. Although phones may not be consistently listening to us and recording our conversations, this reminded me of another issue that arose in the world of invasive technology. The Amazon Alexa had much controversy surrounding it after many sources claimed that the device was constantly recording everything that was being said so it could have better data of what its family needed to know and how they spoke. So, this lends to the question that Haridy was trying to answer: can these devices really track us via audio? It has never been proven to be true, but it is still the main point of emphasis that people push when they are arguing that their privacy is being disrespected. Personally, I believe that this is the case due to the fact that many people either do not want to come to terms with or do not understand the fact that technology and AI have become so intelligent that they can know what you want or need based off of things such as what your friends are searching or what area of the country you live in. Computers are trained experts at educated guessing. So, is our privacy truly gone? Or is the world of algorithms and educated guessing in technology just becoming too advanced for us to wrap our minds around?
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Ads There is nothing worse than an annoying pop-up ad that disrupts the display of your favorite website. Pop-ups are just one of the many ways that advertisements can find their way into the eyes of helpless viewers, hoping to make a lasting mark. But if we all find these ads to be so annoying, why would these companies think they will positively affect us? This is a question I have always pondered, as I tend to want to click on the ad less if it is impeding my ability to look at my intended website of choice. I believe that it boils down to the idea of attention: no attention, is bad attention. In other terms, it doesn’t matter if their advertisement for vegan dog food is annoying you at the moment, but the next time you are searching for a healthy alternative for your dog, that ad will inevitably pop into your head. It is the hope that their ad, as annoying as it may have been, will still stick in your head, for whatever reason it may. We also see this, oftentimes, in artists and politicians. People will say and do things that gain them attention, good or bad, just to keep their name in the back of everyone’s head. This tactic, although obnoxious, is wildly successful. Another example I have seen of wild and provocative advertising to draw attention is the “I Hate Steven Singer" billboards. What seems like a page to hate on a man by the name of Steven Singer is actually a jewelry website. This approach to advertising is to entice people to want to know what such a strange website would be about, and hopefully catch their eye once they’re there with the beautiful jewelry products. They came for the Steven Singer drama, and they stayed for the jewelry. Instagram Pods "Likeforlike" is taking the world by storm. In the land of social media, the only thing people truly care about is their engagement and the way they are portraying themself to the outside world. As explained by Caroline Forsey, the Instagram algorithm can be gamed in many different ways. The newest one being through Instagram pods. However, this world of "likeforlike" and "commentforcomment" is not new at all. This has been a phenomenon for years now that has just become more convenient due to direct messages being within the Instagram app. When I was younger, you would make the cross-app trek to Tumblr or GroupMe to promote your new post, hoping that you would get enough traction to not look like you had no friends liking your post. But does this make sense? To look like I had friends liking my post, I got strangers to do it for me instead. This is just adding a layer to the world of fakeness in social media. A new feature has recently arisen on Instagram that has given users the option to opt out of this anxiety inducing phenomenon all together. Users can now hide their like count or mute commenting on a post. Many influencers have done this, claiming it has helped with their mental health. No longer having to focus on Instagram like it is a job can be beneficial to your time and mental. When the "likeforlike" game starts to feel more like a requirement, Instagram loses its fun, and mental health takes a toll because of it. Collapsed Context BeReal is not the authentic, healthy social media platform it claims to be. The French creators claim that the app is authentic and against performative behavior, but this is not the full truth. All social media comes with its different problems. BeReal is a new world of social media shaming and issues. Typically, apps like Instagram and FaceBook are shamed for their ability to show the highlights of one's life. The photos can be edited and posed exactly how the creator would like. BeReals's original claims aim to shut this behavior down, forcing authentic posts in the moment. However, they are now on the flip side of unhealthy social media messages. As mentioned in Brooke Erin Duffy and Ysabel Gerrard's article, BeReal's app score description states that "If you want to become an influencer you can stay on TikTok and Instagram." With this kind of message, the creators of the app are teaching users that the only way to gain fame is through being fake and curated. If the new age of social media is authenticity, then why is fame not achievable through this form of posting? At the end of the day, these apps want to build traction and use influencers to do so.

12/6/2022
Izzy's Home Page

Required assignments Wiki tutorial Web search and evaluation Filter and label your email Adblocking Privacy footprint Reading response sets

11/20/2022
Ad Blocker

Citation Machine with and without an Ad Blocker: Is there any way to fully escape the world of targeted advertisements? The answer is no. I applied an ad blocker to my Chrome browser and went on Citation Machine. As seen in the photos above, my advertisements were for Ulta. This is very much so a targeted ad for me, as I shop on Sephora very often. Sephora is Ulta's number one business competition. I am very loyal to Sephora, so these ads annoy me. As mentioned in "Targeted Advertising Considered Harmful", people are leaning more and more towards ad blockers as they learn how targeted advertisements work. I do not appreciate when ads try to sway me away from the companies I am loyal to. Even though a company like Ulta is very reputable, I still find the ads annoying and obtrusive. So how do ad blockers and websites determine what ads are appropriate to be shown? Even though this ad is a reputable company, the ad itself is in the way of the website, causes pop ups, and gets in the way of my use of the original website. As mentioned in an article written by Sven Taylor, certain ad blockers allowing companies to pay to have their ads shown is very dangerous. This leads there to be no way to truly trust these ad blockers that you use for security and quality reasons. I also believe that when I get an ad while having an ad blocker on, I find that company to put a bad taste in my mouth. I get annoyed with them for forcing themself into my internet browsing experience.

11/15/2022
Reading Responses

Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning Baseball is the key to understanding learning skills. Well, not actually, but that is a metaphor made by the authors of Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. I found this metaphor to be the most resounding piece of information I pulled from this chapter. As an athlete, I can understand how quick wit and picking up on minor signal changes can increase your ability to perform. The poignant message is, “every time you learn something new, you change the brain” (Brown, Roediger, McDaniel 7). However, I can say that I am a member of their skeptical group that they mention on page 8. Today, there is the constant circulation of “fake news” that muddies the water on what will truly be effective to enhance one’s ability to learn. So to this I ask, how does one not only know that advice is trustworthy, but that it will be effective with their own personal needs? We are taught in school to do things like put distractions away, chew gum, or sit up straight to stay focused.They also often teach in the similar style mentioned in the chapter, referred to as “fire hose” style. It's been proven that this is not a successful way to sustain any learning done. So, why is this still the main form of information dispersion seen today is schools? I am interested in continuing to learn of the other ways to successfully teach students with different learning needs and hindrances, as the current ones do not aid all students equally. Professor Reagle: Gossip Like a spider weaving its web, internet communities intertwine and overlap in more ways than one can imagine. It is in our human nature to interact with others and learn about people. With this, however, also comes our desire to spread this information we learned. This is the gateway to gossip. As Joseph Reagle mentions, “A large group is better protected against predation than a small group is, but it also has internal competition for food and mating” (Reagle, 2019). No matter how close a group may feel, there will always be a level of tension and competition. Gossip is a direct product of this, becoming an easy way to stir the pot and plant seeds of doubt in people towards their other relationships in the group. An example of this can be seen in the women’s basketball team at Northeastern. We are all fighting for the same playing time. Due to this, there is a level of competition within the group. Oftentimes, this can manifest as cliques and drama, meaning gossip about opposing groups is not far behind. Similarly, as mentioned by Reagle, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” (Reagle, 2019). Understanding the more intricate relationships within a group, as well as the secondary relationships, is imperative to having a good pulse on the group you are a part of. Ultimately, no matter how “close knit” a group may feel, human nature will always return us to a primitive state of survival methods. Even if they have evolved to look more like a rumor mill, they still function similarly to that of monkeys fighting over food. Maybe this is a new angle in proving evolution, humans and monkeys similarities in the world of gossip. Bullying and Harassment The line between censorship and monitoring hate speech is slowly beginning to blur. As mentioned in the article written by Shannon Bond, it is getting harder by the day to differentiate what is playful banter and inside jokes versus what is hate speech and bullying on FaceBook (Bond). That being said, many comments and posts are then left up to interpretation, which enters into a very muddy area of bias and opinion. This raises the question of how we can have effective content policies without restricting people’s freedom of speech? There is no denying that these major social media platforms have an affiliation to one or the other political party that is running for office, so would content regulators with a political bias be inclined to mark an opposing campaign's information as disinformation? These questions are pressing in this current conversation over social media censorship. Another issue arises when it comes to people finding their way around the algorithm that flags things such as hate speech and bullying. An example of this can be found on TikTok. Whenever people want to type something on their video that does not follow the app's guidelines, they will spell it with a different character. For example, instead of typing “college”, I would type it as “cõ//ege” so that it does not get flagged for the use of the prohibited word. Although people may report the post, the algorithm typically sends people with a similar ideology to these videos, so the majority of people do not want it taken down. This leaves the minority that did not intend on viewing this content somewhat powerless. With rules on political correctness and appropriate content ever evolving, will these large corporations be able to keep up? Or will angles to avoid being banned from social media platforms become even more complex?

10/19/2022
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Published on HackMD