Healthy Living
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Facebook thinks you're fat
partner
Every time I surf various news sites or gossip blogs or even Huff
Po, it is inevitable that I will see an ad for either
Lane
Bryant,
Igigi or
Kiyonna. It's a little creepy, quite honestly, because I
seriously doubt that my husband or my size 8 sister or David
Duchovny sees those ads. Logistically, I know that the website and
ad servers are digging through my browser history or cookies to
know that yes, I DO shop for plus-size clothes a lot and yes, I
actually buy from those online retailers. But it's still creepy,
nonetheless, so I've started tuning them out.
Want to know more about Weetabix's favorite plus-size fashion finds? Check out Elastic Waist's galaxy of gorgeous plus-size clothes!
Likewise,
Facebook serves up similar
creepiness, but I always figure that it's culling from the same
business, or may be triggered off of key words on my profile. For
instance, I'm a member of several size-acceptance groups and
probably the fact that I'm friends with several size-acceptance
bloggers is throwing my demographic all out of whack. I had no idea
that the problem was
more pervasive than it seemed.
"...Facebook's data miners know much more about us
because we tell them a whole lot more. Facebook knows my birthday,
my relationship status and which book I'm reading, among other
personal tidbits. The site started turning this information into
dollar signs last November with the launch of Facebook Ads, which
targets users' presumed areas of interest (or psychological soft
spots). Basically, the subliminal goal of product advertising is to
make you feel inadequate and ashamed, because you're not perfect.
Your teeth are yellow. Your armpits stink. You're fat. And
hairy."
We also hate it that our video game console is making us feel like less than the gorgeous people we are. Apparently, you don't judge the Wii, the Wii judges you!
Do you pay attention to online advertising, even when it is
obnoxious? Would you be offended if Facebook assumed that you
had a muffin top? Or do you just employ some handy dandy ad
blockers that solve the problem nicely?
More from SELF:
Instead of helping people lose weight, businesses are cashing in by
making it easier to be fat. The only thing bigger than the
products? The profits.
MORE FROM ELASTIC WAIST AND SELF:
Related: facebook, body image, advertising
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Posted by Mr NMB Tue Sep 9, 2008 4:30am PDT
You sound like you have a problem being fat...
This country is the fattest friendly country in the world if you are a person less than 5'4" tall and your a size 8 guess what? You are fat… So what are you going to do about that?
Chances are if you live in the USA nothing.. The face book community is against the fat acceptance of America and so am I...
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Posted by Mr NMB Tue Sep 9, 2008 5:28am PDT
Like I said it depends on how tall you are...
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Posted by Elissa Tue Sep 9, 2008 5:49am PDT
I'm 5' with a small frame. If I were a size 6 (with these size inflated clothes we have these days) I'd be, well, maybe not quite fat, but certainly overweight. If I were an 8, I'd definitely be fat. And I know because I was.
Still, like I said, my frame's really small. I think a person with a medium or even a small frame, at 5'4", could be a size 8 and be perfectly normal.
And while there are a lot of fat people in the country, just because you're plus sized, doesn't mean you're fat. There are tall people, and people with very large frames that are perfectly healthy, but larger. Not nice to judge.
I agree that we're a little too accepting of fat. With most of our country being fat, it's a problem. But it's not nice to call people fat...
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Posted by Laura Tue Sep 9, 2008 6:12am PDT
This is so funny. I'm 5'8 weigh 162 and wear a size 8! I also wear a D cup size. I don't feel fat, so I'll leave it up to you all to decide
!
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Posted by Mr NMB Tue Sep 9, 2008 6:13am PDT
I am 5'9" 220lbs. 18% body fat overwight yet normal body fat so I am NOT fat yet overweight I your FAT your FAT calling it anything else is just a lie...
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Posted by Mr NMB Tue Sep 9, 2008 6:30am PDT
It's all about BODY FAT not WEIGHT people...
A person can be in shape and very fit yet OVER WEIGHT but if your body fat is too high then you are at risk for health problems...
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Posted by MistressMinx Tue Sep 9, 2008 6:34am PDT
This article isn't about whether you're fat or not - its about the fact that "advertisers" are culling our personal information from certain sites and then marketing towards us.
Whether or not I'm fat, whether real or decided upon by some guy with a bunch of statistics, is no one's business and I don't want my advertising targeted based on things I may or may not have bought online.
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Posted by Caramel Cake Tue Sep 9, 2008 7:11am PDT
I had noticed too the other day when I had went into the facebook blog, that they had alot of popups of Lane bryant and a new plus sized store online. I am a pluse size, but I never put my size on facebook afraid of what the other classmates would say. So how do they know? I think that they listen and eavesdrop in on what you put in as info, I think they monitor us on this computer more than we think.
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Posted by Mr NMB Tue Sep 9, 2008 7:14am PDT
MistressMinx advertisers use what they can to market products to certain types of consumers the sad truth is that based on what we purchase we are automatically putting ourselves into a demographic and the research is dome by a computer not some guy if fact the system is not only setting up a demographic it also informs health insurance companies of the consumers purchases. These statistics will determine whether you qualify as clinically obese and a potential health risk. When you put out an article on Shine it may take off on different maybe more important issues… that’s just a risk you have to take.
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