Man !
At this point I don’t believe in any of the digital gadgets
Since two days I have been thinking about getting a custom fit shirt and trousers
I did not discussed this with my wife nor I did a google search , I know today on Sunday afternoon I will search and visit upcoming week
Damn today Sunday morning I see ads on my Facebook from a tailor shop !
I kid you not I never ever said anything nor I did google !
There is more than we know that this technology is doing to us
Part of me assumes that the algorithms that display content probably connected the dots that due to OP’s previous purchases (clothing), type of work ($$ available for custom clothing), time of year (rhythm of previous purchases of clothing)… and perhaps some content he was seeing the week previous made him think about suiting and that’s an intent signal to trigger ads on that product category.
OP probably just paused on a random tshirt ad in his endless, mindless scrolling and the algorithm noticed. So it fishes for more interest and sends him more shirt and trouser ads, honing in on his desires. It notices whenever you stop and do a double take at an advertisement. You dont even need to speak your interest out loud or search anything, it will find out.
No they 100% illegally listen to you. I got stroller ads when I said I thought the wagon we bought was more useful than the stroller. 11 months after we bought the wagon. 5 years after we bought the stroller. Neither of us searching anything related to them and algorithmically we wouldn't be in the market for either.
I had an ex who was dead-asleep, rolled over with his eyes open and looked right at me and said, "Who put the purple shoes on the brown kittens?" When I asked what he was talking about, he blinked and said, "Don't worry about it, hun, it's a work thing." Rolled over and started snoring. I was FREAKED OUT. The next morning I asked about it and he described, in detail, the dream he had been having. So some people speak VERY clearly in their sleep.
It's not a coincidence. It's definitely not telepathy either though. These algorithms harvest VAST amounts of data and can make predictions based on your activity. Nothing to do with googling "tailors near me". They just know.
Probably saw an ad for the tailor who just started an ad campaign. He goes "oh that's a good idea, I should get my clothes tailored". Forgets about the ad, then sees it again the next day "holy shit they can read our minds now!!!1" lol
I've had this exact same thing happen with an ultra specific coincidence.
During summer a sport hat of mine that I wear for running had a bit of a ring of sweat marks on it. I needed to give it a clean and I was wondering the best way to clean it, whether I could just use warm water or if it'd need soap or detergent or something. It was a fleeting thought I had, in a passing moment. I didn't verbalise it or talk to anyone about it, I didn't google it or anything. Then the next day I got a recommended youtube video for literally washing the sweat stains out of hats.
This baffled me for a while and I did have at least a few moments that day of paranoia about how the fuck had this happened. However, I'd only recently bought the hat about 2 weeks beforehand and I bought it online. I also watch a lot of sport videos on youtube for running, cycling, triathlon stuff and my youtube page is always filled with videos about training, professional athletes, sporting equipment.
Ultimately, it was just a coincidence. My youtube algorithm puts up loads of videos every day about gadgets/clothes/equipment that I pay no notice to and then the one time a video was specifically relevant to a thought I'd had, I noticed it. Because I'm so used to the videos being irrelevant it stands out when this happens but then we forget the thousands of videos that are recommended which have nothing to do without our thoughts and current interests.
It happens quite often, I believe it is due to the algorithm gathering data on what you see online and in the same way you reach a conclusion it reaches the same one
It has less data then you on the real world but definitely more data on your browsing habbits, messaging frequency and the such
I don’t actually believe they’re reading my mind but it’s so odd when I think of something, especially something random or things I don’t normally think about, and I end up seeing an ad for that exact thing later on.
Even if you think you didnt show any interest on a subject, it will know by how much you engage on a reel/short.
It doesnt just take account the like. It tracks time spent, opening comment section, rewinding, going back to the reel, etc.
The algorithm even push other content on that subject to test its hypothesis.
Then it cross reference its data with data on the people around you. Like if your wife is also looking for mens shirts, it knows its for her husband, which is you.
I think its subtle suggestions. I used to write a lot on tumblr and noticed if I scrolled back there would be patterns of things I posted unknowingly. Like maybe I saw a cool lamp and then over the next few days posted lamps without noticing. I think its something like that. We are being led.
You paused on an ad for a split second longer than any other ad and it figured out you were interested. No different than doom scrolling YouTube shorts and pausing on a video for a second then that's all you're fed for the next week.
For everyone else out there. Pick a product you dont need (Like "kitty litter") yet you have no pets. Say it around your home for a few days, and you will soon be inundated with ads for kitty litter if any of your apps are listening
But you also get other random ads for things you never talked about but you don't notice them because you didn't think about those. You would have gotten this ad anyway but only noticed because I was on your mind
They dont need your voice to listen to you. Search history, plans you have on your calendar, other people mentioning you. Your facebook/twitter/insta/tiktok data on how long you linger over certain things.
It all adds up to a very clear picture of you and it can predict a lot about you pretty accurately.
I'm getting really weirded out when things come up on my reddit feed that I was literally just thinking about not too long before 😥 Also videos that fit the description of something I was searching on google, which is at least logical, but still creepy.
This happens to me lol! I work at high end restaurants and my adverts will change to match the type of shit we sell at the restaurant without me ever googling or asking anything about the products we sell.
Similar thing happened to me. I was once in bed and thinking about making some extra money. Sometime I thought about a sperm bank, which I have never discussed with anyone or searched on the internet. I open Facebook and boom, sperm bank ads.
Did you talk about it in the car with Bluetooth connected? Ive heard Nissan vehicles actively listen and will create ads in your browser based on what it hears, including sexual activity
I remarked in the shower on Friday that was out of shampoo to myself, mostly as a mental note.
Phone wasn't in the room with me, no smart devices where present in the room, I just had a simple radio that is almost 30 years old. Not even any of my wife's devices where in the room.
Sure enough, all of my ads after that were for shampoo or places that sell shampoo intermixed with ads for laptops because I need a new one for work.
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u/Ok_Recipe2769 7h ago
Man !
At this point I don’t believe in any of the digital gadgets
Since two days I have been thinking about getting a custom fit shirt and trousers
I did not discussed this with my wife nor I did a google search , I know today on Sunday afternoon I will search and visit upcoming week
Damn today Sunday morning I see ads on my Facebook from a tailor shop !
I kid you not I never ever said anything nor I did google !
There is more than we know that this technology is doing to us