When it comes to targeted ads, I sometimes feel like a conspiracy theorist: I’ve disabled Siri and am careful not to pause on Instagram ads for too long on. As a comic artist, I realize that targeted advertising isn’t necessarily a bad thing; in my own work, it allows people to engage more deeply with what I create.
But advertising, to me, is sinister. It drags my personal life out into the public without my consent.
That’s why it scares me to speak to younger people, who seem personally invested in social media influencers. I wonder to myself: Is this just modern marketing, or a more sinister encroachment of mental space?
