Alicia Homans Assignment 1: Information Literacy

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Jeff Fox recently posted an article about Facebooks idea to track a users search history
so that Facebook can post ads related to the users recent interests. Fox stated that people
overwhelmingly reject the ads; he seemed to think it was an invasion of privacy. Presenting
several questions including, which of your personal activities around the web will Facebook
track, Fox answered that Facebook will track where you go online or record specific websites
that you visit often. Another question brought up was, Can you opt out of Facebooks new ad
system? to which Fox explained that it is possible to opt out of the ad system though altering it
that way puts the responsibility of the consumer to control their own privacy. The article
mentioned Facebooks claim that when asked; people want to see ads that are more relevant to
their interests. Fox immediately followed this statement with statistics that clearly show
consumers feelings toward Facebooks targeting ads as worthless. The conclusion was that
Facebooks ad idea may be prohibited by law unless they get users express consent.

Summary of article written by Jeff Fox on 8/24/2014
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-fox/what-kind-of-privacy-pipe_b_5523967.html

Additional Internet articles:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/06/12/privacy-experts-
say-facebook-changes-open-up-unprecedented-data-collection/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/12/facebook-ad-profiles_n_5487372.html
Alicia Homans Assignment 1: Information Literacy
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Search engines used- Bing and Google
Bing and google were both equally helpful for my research. They even came up with most of
the same search results. However, I typically prefer Google because I use it more than Bing and
can find my way around it easily.
TRAAP sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/12/facebook-ad-profiles_n_5487372.html
Time- This article was written 06/12/14 at 6:51 am, Updated- 06/12/14 at 2:59 pm
Relevance- This article relates to my topic which is Social Media Privacy.
Authority- Alexei Oreskovic, Has been studying and reporting technology and business
for over 10 years making him qualified to discuss this topic. (http://blogs.reuters.com/alexei-
oreskovic/)
Accurate- This information is supported by Facebook itself. If you log on to Facebook
just after surfing the web you will see the evidence of targeting ads.
Purpose- The article was basically written to discuss a problem that people have
recently noticed. It informs users of the advertising methods used by social media.

Scholarly journals:
http://search.proquest.com.ccbcmd.idm.oclc.org/pqcentral/docview/1518677354/BD3E739D8
C2E420CPQ/24?accountid=3784
http://search.proquest.com.ccbcmd.idm.oclc.org/abicomplete/docview/1543242666/B
28C4A24E3CA4B47PQ/16?accountid=3784
Key words searched- Facebooks targeting ads, and social media privacy
Database used- Baltimore Sun I used the Baltimore Sun database because it had a
broad variety of topics. My topic did not fit into the other database categories.


Alicia Homans Assignment 1: Information Literacy
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Comparing Internet and Journal Articles
Searching the CCBC Library database was a difficult process. Not only was it hard to find
the correct date and scholarly journal, but my topic was also very specific. Because my topic
was so narrow, it took hours to find a suitable source. The public search engines offer a wider
variety of sources. Articles from Google and Bing often had been published within that very
day. Unfortunately, the CCBC Library articles were mostly old and were rarely written this year.
On the other hand, scholarly journal articles are published by authors who specialize in the
subjects they report. It is likely that scholarly journals are more trustworthy than articles found
within public search engines. Although both ways of researching are helpful in different ways,
for this research project, I would prefer to use public search engines to find my sources.









Alicia Homans Assignment 1: Information Literacy
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Works Cited in MLA Format
"Facebook Draws Fire from Privacy Advocates over Ad Changes." Washington Post. The
Washington Post. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.
Fox, Jeff. "What Kind of Privacy Pipe Is Facebook Smoking? Consumers Don't Want Targeted
Ads." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 June 2014. Web. 19 Sept.
2014.
Goyette, Braden. "Facebook Is Now Tracking You Even More Closely For Its Ads." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 June 2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.
Lukka, Ville, and Paul T J James. "Attitudes toward Facebook Advertising." Proquest.com.
Proquest.com, Feb. 2014. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.
Mir, Imran A. "Effects of Pre-Purchase Search Motivation on User Attitudes toward Online
Social Network Advertising: A Case of University Students." Proquest.com.
Proquest.com, June 2014. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.