Facebook facepalm.

[randomness]

I was describing to digitalemur last week that I'd finally managed to dislodge Facebook's assumption that I was from Cincinnati. Now it thinks I'm from Montreal--certainly more plausible--but it took quite a number of "likes" to do it, where it only took two offhand "likes" (Skyline Chili and Graeter's) to get them pointed in that direction in the first place.

As we were talking I suddenly realized why Facebook decided I was a lesbian. Early on I "liked" My Drunk Kitchen. The LGBT link suggestions started not long after that.

No one would "like" Hannah Hart's comedy cooking show if they weren't themselves lesbian, right?

*facepalm*

Comments

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

Mostly... I see "facepalm" as "someone has done something stuipd", that is, it's clear that many people could have done a better job. In this case the job is to write an algorithm that selects ads/recommends pages/something based on whatever information Facebook can glean from you. Given that you're deliberately trying to avoid giving Facebook information that lets them get a close fix on you and your tastes, it's hard to imagine that anyone could construct an algorithm that would provide good selections/recommendations. Or in short, yes the job is done badly; no, I can't imagine doing a better job myself. It's absurd on the face of it only if you have no awareness of the underlying dynamic of what is going on.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

The "facepalm" in this case is my being struck by the absurdity of American culture as reflected in a very facile Facebook algorithm.

Given that you're deliberately trying to avoid giving Facebook information that lets them get a close fix on you and your tastes

Actually, I'm being quite true to my interests. The facepalm comes from how changing gender identification and nothing else results in some very strange results.

You keep talking about how this makes sense for Facebook and I keep talking about how Facebook's representation of a weird society is itself weird.

Weŕe talking past each other. If you like, I can keep this up all year.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

It's absurd on the face of it only if you have no awareness of the underlying dynamic of what is going on.

It seems clear to me that my understanding of the underlying dynamic is at least as good as yours.