# Ad Blocking A site before the use of an ad blocker: ![](https://i.imgur.com/2kYblLi.jpg) With an ad blocker: ![](https://i.imgur.com/uJx93rI.png) I've used an ad blocker for years and it's effectiveness can't be overstated. Personally, I hate the idea of targeted advertising. I get unnerved when I see a site advertising something similar to what I bought or looked at in the past week. I've managed to avoid the "banner blindness" phenomenon because just seeing a targeted ad makes me uncomfortable, and it's become something I'm always aware of when not using an ad blocker. Companies using third-party cookies makes targeted ads even easier. As mentioned in "Targeted Advertising Considered Harmful", advertisers can buy cheaper ads from sites that share cookies with bigger sites, allowing them to continue their targeted ads across multiple sites. In addition, if ad blockers allow Acceptable Ads to sneak through it creates an uneven playing field for advertising based on the size and wealth of the company. There's a reason Senator Ron Wyden brought the practice to the attention of the senate for potential "anti-competitive" practices. It could allow big companies to pay blockers to have their ads still show, but small companies would not have enough money to do so. In the interest of a free market, Acceptable Ads are a terrible practice.
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Reading Responses Set 2

11/8 - Manipulated Manipulated content can deter a social media feed from its normal look and feel — and often not in a good way. Social media can generate manipulated content in a multitude of ways. One of the most common ways it manifests itself is through promoted content. Promoted content can interrupt a normal social media feed by flashing a message from a company or product, typically an advertisement. Promoted content has benefits compared to typical web page ads. As Joseph Reagle detailed in Reading the Comments Chapter 3: "Manipulated: Which Ice Cube is the Best?", "One Web analytics company concluded that the [Sponsored Stories] ads cost roughly 20 percent less per click and per Facebook fan and were clicked on 46 percent more than standard Facebook ads." The implementation of Sponsored Stories and their effectiveness shows why companies choose to use promoted content to their advantage. But promoted content is not the only way content can be manipulated. Another way is through the social media sites changing their algorithms. When Instagram changed their algorithm, it led to a rise in "Instagram Pods" to help people supports others' content. As Caroline Forsey writes in "Everything You Need to Know About Instagram Pods, the New Way Influencers Are Gaming the Algorithm", "It's mutually beneficial for everyone in the group, since it operates on a like-for-like or comment-for-comment basis."

12/6/2022
Privacy Footprint

My privacy footprint is much different than others — as a journalist, googling my own name brings up articles, staff pages, and social profiles that showcase my work. I discovered today that I even have a knowledge panel on the side. Sure, it has outdated information, but it is still cool to have that available. There's also a carousel of recent articles I've written, which is nice to know that if someone does search my name they can easily find some of my work. I did a Spokeo search of my phone number, which shows my location as near my hometown. That makes sense logically, as my area code is within that area even when I'm at school. Similar with social media, my Twitter is a professional account that is public for a reason. So it is not in my interest at all to be private, and the ads don't really affect me much even when they're personalized. I don't have TikTok, and I don't use Facebook enough to be concerned about it tracking me. I can't even remember the last time I had a conversation on Facebook Messenger, so even though the piece by Rich Haridy shows that Facebook was listening to audio conversations, that wouldn't actually affect me.

11/22/2022
**Mike's Home Page**

Wiki Tutorial Response Web Search & Evaluation Link Filtering Email Link Ad Blocking

11/22/2022
Reading Responses Set 1 (5 out of 5)

10/21 - Gender, communication, and contribution Why is it that hackers don't want their industry to become diverse? Earlier this semester, we tackled the idea of why people are so mean online. The idea that they can hide behind a persona or an anonymous presence makes it easier for them to attack people without real fear of retribution. But these open-source editors are so worried about their activity being "demasculinized", as Naomi Slater puts it in "The Open Source Identity Crisis" when that simply isn't the case. I understand the effect that they believe it has on their identity, but that merely exists in their own concept of identity rather reality. Women are very involved in tech and that has increased over the past few years, but these hackers don't see it that way because their minds are stuck in an outdated idea of the makeup of the tech industry. The concept of identity manifests itself in many ways. One of the most important is how you perceive your own identity. The reason these hackers are so resistant to women getting involved in the tech industry is because they view the industry as male when that's not the case anymore. If they simply accept that fact, they wouldn't feel that their identity is being attacked. In reality, there's no good reason for hackers and open-source editors to not want more women to get involved. No matter what Megan Moltemi and Adam Rogers say in "The Actual Science of James Damore's Google Memo", I refuse to accept any "scientific" reason as to why the tech industry shouldn't be diverse.

10/21/2022
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