hyperbolejoe

Part of the reason I won't use any of these connected products. Whatever convenience they provide is a wash for getting sucked into some bizarre future where I can't turn off my lights because an app isn't working or my internet is down.

Playing with stocks. I decided to try to win big in the market. Took my IRA money out of index funds, and started trying to play some stocks. Lost big on one, panicked, and got out. My timing was awful. That stock eventually recovered to my purchase point after six months, but I put my money into another sure thing based on my research. Lost more. At least this time I did not panic. Now I'm trying to make up for it by playing the long term on a stock that should bounce back, but I'm content if it doesn't. Maybe it'll take a year or two, but I should at least be back to where I was. Then I'll be moving back into index funds.

I proposed a thought to Reddit, but have no proof of its possibility either technically or practically.

The people we talk with are generally the people we are connected with on social media. It's feasible to me that a conversation happens and someone in the group makes a search, which then maybe causes algorithms using location data to push those ads to people in that location.

Further, what's being talked about is probably being talked about and searched by others in the area and/or with the same interests, so even if it isn't localized quite so much the possibility of what's being talked about to generate ads is heightened.

Finally, there's the confirmation bias and recency bias at play. Once something is known or on mind, it's more likely to be noticed. They may have already had those ads coming in and only noticed them after talking about it. Or, the ads might have even caused the person to subconsiouciously think about the thing.

The psychology at play in advertising is advanced.