targeted

12Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL MEDIA

Targeted Advertising On Social Media Drives People To Extremes

Have you had the experience of looking at some product online and then seeing ads for it all over your social media feed? Far from coincidence, these instances of eerily accurate advertising provide glimpses into the behind-the-scenes mechanisms that feed an item you search for on Google, “like” on social media or come across while browsing into custom advertising on social media. Those mechanisms are increasingly being used for more nefarious purposes than aggressive advertising. The threat is in how this targeted advertising interacts with today’s extremely divisive political landscape. As a social media researcher, I see how people seeking to radicalize others use targeted advertising to readily move people to extreme views. Advertising to an audience of one Advertising is clearly powe...

A Targeted Approach To Canceling Student Loan Debt Could Help Certain Groups, But Will Barely Boost The Economy

William Chittenden, Texas State University At the end of June 2021, 43 million borrowers – or about 14% of all adults in the U.S. – owed approximately US$1.59 trillion in outstanding federal student loans. Although in many cases the media has focused on borrowers with extremely large balances – such as the orthodontist who owes over $1 million in student loans – the average balance is a more modest $39,351 per borrower with an average monthly payment of $393 per month. The standard repayment period for $39,351 in student loans is 20 years. The amount of student debt outstanding varies greatly based on the type of degree pursued. The average bachelor’s degree debt is under $29,000 while the average dental school debt is more than 10 times higher at over $290,000. In general, those who pur...

Forced sterilization policies in the US targeted minorities and those with disabilities – and lasted into the 21st century

In August 1964, the North Carolina Eugenics Board met to decide if a 20-year-old Black woman should be sterilized. Because her name was redacted from the records, we call her Bertha. She was a single mother with one child who lived at the segregated O'Berry Center for African American adults with intellectual disabilities in Goldsboro. According to the North Carolina Eugenics Board, Bertha had an IQ of 62 and exhibited “aggressive behavior and sexual promiscuity.” She had been orphaned as a child and had a limited education. Likely because of her “low IQ score,” the board determined she was not capable of rehabilitation. Instead the board recommended the “protection of sterilization” for Bertha, because she was “feebleminded” and deemed unable to “assume responsibility for herself” or her...