All of us know that nothing comes free in this world and what we think we do get free has other hidden costs. WhatsApp and Facebook have access to our innermost desires and they liberally share with advertisers to finance what they offer us for free. Corporates in turn use that information to target their advertising accurately and here is a story to illustrate this.
The following is a real exchange yesterday between a dear friend and me in WhatsApp.
Friend: On my Facebook feed, I get ads for men over 50 – all the ads either show old men playing with grandchildren, or pills for erectile dysfunction or how I need to beware of incurable old age diseases. Depressing stuff. Ageism is alive and well in the targeted advertising world!
Me: Is this a forward or a personal rant?
Friend: Personal rant
Me: 😔😔😔
This thread continued with a different tack with me having my share of fun
Friend: How are you keeping?
You look very good after beard trim and haircut.
Me: You have learnt to ask “keeping” instead of “doing”!😃
Friend: Lol.
Me: Thank you. All of us here are flourishing.
Friend: Great.
A little background the fun exchange. He used to ask me “How are you doing?” and I would respond with “I stopped doing a long time ago.”
The beard trim and hair cut is referring to my blog post.