It might shock you to learn that Facebook is very interested in knowing just what it is that you’re interested in. Accurate information equals accurate advertising and accurate advertising means a lot of revenue for the social network.

Actually, you shouldn’t be shocked. That’s Facebook’s main business model, after all. They want to know all about you, so they can sell that information (once it has been suitably sanitised, hopefully) to advertisers. But what does that information look like?

Actually, you can see it represented in little blocks, which contain tiny little aspects of who you are and what you’re interested in. Facebook has shaken up what your advertising preferences look like, so that all of your details are in block form. It’s a frightening way to see your life laid out but it’s also a great pointer towards why you’re seeing the Facebook advertising that you are.

If you’re anything like us then the information Facebook has on you might be slight (or even non-existent — an option that is possible with a lot of Settings maintenance). Or you could have hordes of information that Facebook uses to prioritise who gets to show you advertising. Everything from your smartphone preferences to your preferred operating system to what sort of food you’re most partial to could be revealed, based on your status updates and Likes over the course of your time with Facebook.

You can see what Facebook has on you here, and you can also do a spot of cleaning up in case you didn’t mean to let slip certain details about your life. Facebook’s ad preferences page will also show which advertisers have your contact info, so you can do some pruning there too if you like. Or just marvel at the sheer number of brands who have access to you.

Source: The Next Web