Sneaky Advertising

One of the ways I spend my time on the internet is on Pinterest. I am a wife, a mom, (we have 3 boys ages 10, 8, and 6), a student, a Sunday School teacher, and I have a part time job at a library where I'm a librarian's assistant and children's programmer. I have boards on my Pinterest page for all of these things. I have cleaning boards,  home decor boards, teaching and craft idea boards, bulletin board ideas, rhymes and songs for storytime boards.... you get the idea. If you wanna see it, here's the link: Renee's Pinterest Boards

Before studying media and advertising in my Society and Media class, I never thought about how much information I was giving away by using Pinterest. Our textbook Media/Society by Croteau and Hoynes says “Social networking sites have been gold mines for advertisers. Users often voluntarily supply a broad range of information about themselves that is of great interest to advertisers.” I’ve built an advertiser’s dream profile. I’ve pinned all the things I’m interested in and the specific things I want in the future.

When I first started using Pinterest, there were no ads. Now, ads show up on my home page where things are posted that my friends have pinned, along with things Pinterest thinks I will be interested in. At first I did not realize that they were advertisements. For example, one pin was for what to pair with Digiorno Pizza. It had pizza and carrot sticks, pizza and salad, and on and on. I was confused, thinking which one of my friends posted this? Then I saw at the bottom it said “Promoted by Digiorno Pizza”. It was an ad acting like a pin that would organically be there. Here’s an article about the Pinterest CEO talking about how people don’t opt out of their ads as often: http://marketingland.com/pinterest-ceo-our-ads-are-more-effective-144806 .

I wish that Pinterest did not have advertisements, but it won’t keep me from using it. Now I will be more aware of the fact that everything I post can and will be used against me in the realm of advertising.

Do you ever feel "tricked into" giving advertisers information? Have you noticed any sneaky advertising lately?

To Soap Opera or Not to Soap Opera?

I just finished watching Life Unexpected on Netflix. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442109/ It’s a TV series with two seasons that aired in 2010 and 2011. It’s about a girl, Lux Cassidy, who grew up in the foster care system and then found her biological parents when she was 16. They had always assumed she was adopted, and when they found out she had bounced around from place to place in the foster care system, they decided to parent her. Of course, drama ensues.

This show explores the topics of the foster care system, adoption, forgiveness, and identity, but it’s also a TV drama. It is all about who is sleeping with who and will Lux's parents end up together and can Lux and her boyfriend stay together when her life has changed so drastically and now she's a "normal kid" with a family and he still isn't. Television can’t accurately reflect the foster care system in its one-hour episodes, and the main point of these types of television shows is to entertain, not educate. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/arts/television/movies-and-tv-shows-examine-issues-in-foster-care.html?_r=0

I am drawn to shows like this but I feel guilty when I watch them. When my husband asks me what I’m watching on my Ipad, I make a joke about me and my dumb soap operas. Why is that? Why am I embarrassed that I enjoy getting wrapped up in a drama? I often feel as though I should be doing something “more productive” with my time, or that I should be watching something more educational. I also feel guilty about watching it because it reflects a lifestyle I don't want for myself. The adults get drunk every time they have a problem and cheat on their spouses and they allow 16 year old Lux to drink as well.

Should I feel guilty about watching these types of shows? Where does this feeling come from? Is it something I place on myself or did I get that from society? Probably a mixture of both.

What do you think? Do you watch/play/read things and feel guilty about it but do it anyway?