Chicago, IL -
If you spend any time on the Internet, you know that websites catch on to your interests pretty quickly. Search for shoes, and you're suddenly flooded with shoe links. Email someone in your Gmail account about a Florida vacation, and suddenly Gmail's toolbar is pitching Florida vacations.
For closeted gay men, though, it doesn't take an active search to get targeted by gay ads. Researchers found that just setting your Facebook status to gay elicits gay advertising that might be NSFW.
A scientist from Microsoft Research India worked with a scientist from the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems to see what would pop up on Facebook profiles that were identical aside from the user's sexual preference.
The fake profiles were set to represent straight, gay and lesbian 25-year-old Washington, D.C. residents.
The "gay" male profiles got significantly more ads for gay-specific products and businesses. In contrast, the "lesbian" profiles got just about the same ads as the "straight" females.
This means that if you're in the closet at work but out in other parts of your life, you shouldn't log in to Facebook at work. The ads on the right side of your home page might give you away.
For closeted gay men, though, it doesn't take an active search to get targeted by gay ads. Researchers found that just setting your Facebook status to gay elicits gay advertising that might be NSFW.
A scientist from Microsoft Research India worked with a scientist from the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems to see what would pop up on Facebook profiles that were identical aside from the user's sexual preference.
The fake profiles were set to represent straight, gay and lesbian 25-year-old Washington, D.C. residents.
The "gay" male profiles got significantly more ads for gay-specific products and businesses. In contrast, the "lesbian" profiles got just about the same ads as the "straight" females.
This means that if you're in the closet at work but out in other parts of your life, you shouldn't log in to Facebook at work. The ads on the right side of your home page might give you away.
