I’ve just written a bit about how being single and using a site like Facebook seems to make advertisers think that all I want is to find a woman. Right now, as I type this, there’s an advert over there for ClickTonight.com.
I think I have quite a broad range of interests and desires expressed in my profile, but for some reason Facebook’s algorithms see that I’m single and stop looking. But they don’t even see that I’m single, as I have never listed myself as such, and just leave that bit blank – they just ASSUME that I am, and the only conclusion they can draw is that I must be interested in these women who look like they’re made of mahogany.
So, I’ve started spending bits of my life clicking the Thumbs Down icon on these adverts. I politely tell the menu that asks that the ad is either irrelevant or repetitive, and sometimes, for a crack, that it’s offensive. Then I click ok. It thinks about if for a while, then replaces the advert with … another bloody singles ad.
I just did it with clicktonight.com, and up comes … dateMate. Thumbs down, irrelevant, and now it’s Match.com. Sigh. And through the whole process again, and it thinks about it, sees I’m single, and wonders if I need my teeth whitening. My teeth are fine, thanks to my unending supply of toothpaste, but it’s nice that advertisers think that being single means I must look like the back end of a bus. Now there’s one asking me if I need therapy.
I wonder what will come up if I list myself as married.
It’s given up now, and is instead asking me if I am interested in going to a conference about angels and spiritual healing. I think someone’s taking the piss.
