{"id":68162,"date":"2023-11-15T08:54:55","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T08:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talkcelnews.com\/?p=68162"},"modified":"2023-11-15T08:54:55","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T08:54:55","slug":"do-i-want-to-freeze-my-eggs-or-does-instagram-want-me-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talkcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/do-i-want-to-freeze-my-eggs-or-does-instagram-want-me-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Do I want to freeze my eggs? Or does Instagram want me to?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I was about to turn 28 when it started \u2013 an inundation of sponsored posts on my Instagram, each boasting the side profile of a woman not dissimilar to me in age, revealing her \u201cpre\u201d and \u201cpost\u201d whatever procedure she\u2019d just undergone.<\/p>\n

The cosmetic transformations I witnessed varied: fat-freezing, Botox, teeth-whitening, thread lifts, body contouring and veneers. The slight tinge of redness wherever a needle had just punctured delicate skin was made barely noticeable behind captions using the words \u201cpain-free\u201d, \u201ccheap\u201d and \u201cuncomplicated\u201d, all pasted neatly around the subject\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Instagram algorithm takes note of a user\u2019s gender and age, among other things.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Stephen Kiprillis\/iStock<\/cite><\/p>\n

Along with these posts came soft graphics advertising egg-freezing payment schemes, their captions reminding me \u201cearly action is a big help\u201d and that freezing your eggs works out to be \u201cmore affordable than Saturday brunch\u201d. Scrolling my feed, it became clear I had graduated into a new age bracket online \u2013 Instagram had clocked that I was a woman approaching 30 and prescribed me with a new set of expectations to internalise.<\/p>\n

According to Lizzie O\u2019Shea, a lawyer and the author of Future Histories<\/i>, Instagram\u2019s business model is a commitment to specific, targeted advertising. The algorithm not only tracks the consumerist desires of each of its users \u2013 what shampoo they\u2019re eager to use, according to whether they\u2019ve Googled \u201cdandruff remedies\u201d recently; what teeth-whitening product they\u2019re desperate for; what film they might like to see next \u2013 it also takes note of a user\u2019s gender and age, among other things.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a growing concern that your autonomy is not as fulsome as you might expect when it comes to your online experiences, and it may be shaping how you spend your money,\u201d says O\u2019Shea.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstagram had clocked that I was a woman approaching 30 and prescribed me with a new set of expectations to internalise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Digital strategist and author of Disconnect: Why We Get Pushed to Extremes Online and How to Stop It, <\/i>Jordan Guiao says that a high capacity to \u201cmicrotarget\u201d users is what distinguishes social media platforms from other publishers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAge range is quite standard, but they [social media companies] also build shadow profiles that can target based on demographics, psychographics \u2013 psychological characteristics based on desires, goals [and] values \u2013 behaviours and interests,\u201d says Guiao. \u201cGendered interest targeting would make up a significant portion of their revenues.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is no great mystery that how we engage with the internet informs the decisions we make about our lives and bodies. But those decisions become a little blurry when they aren\u2019t solely informed. Who is pulling the strings when a social media platform has the power to coyly push its users in one direction, carefully curating a pathway of gendered consumerism?<\/p>\n

On any given day, I find myself flicking through an index of posts about pregnancy initiatives or body modification options. I\u2019m not alone in this.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Because] I\u2019m a woman of a certain age, I get sponsored posts for fertility products. This encourages you to see your gender in a particular way,\u201d says O\u2019Shea.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s even more disconcerting is that there are social media marketing strategies referred to as \u201clookalike audiences\u201d, where the curiosities, anxieties and shopping habits of those that \u201cmatch\u201d you online \u2013 be it in appearance, age, class, sexuality or more \u2013 will find their way into your advertisement reel.<\/p>\n

Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, addresses their use of lookalike audiences on their online Business Help Centre, defining them as \u201ca way your ads can reach new people who are likely to be interested in your business because they share similar characteristics to your existing customers\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is pulling the strings when a social media platform has the power to coyly push its users in one direction, carefully curating a pathway of gendered consumerism?\u201d<\/p>\n

Guiao considers lookalike audiences as being part of a \u201cvast surveillance network that most people would not have opted into if they knew how invasive it was\u201d.<\/p>\n

When describing lookalike audiences, Guiao says that \u201ceven if you\u2019re careful \u2026 if you meet a couple of similar criteria to other groups of women, their tracking can be extrapolated to make generalisations about you as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

This means that, even if I haven\u2019t explicitly been considering cosmetic injectables or fertility treatments myself, but other women in my various demographics have, it is very likely that a sponsored post for both will find their way to my feed.<\/p>\n

This was the case for Kasey, a 31-year-old woman based in Melbourne, who is choosing not to share her surname for privacy reasons.<\/p>\n

Kasey started noticing an influx of \u201cplumped lips\u201d on her Instagram feed. \u201cI had never considered [getting lip filler] before, but I felt sort of compelled to try it \u2013 I think because I had turned 30 and have definitely noticed an increased fear around ageing, and my face and body changing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Instagram noticed Kasey\u2019s fears too, circling in on them with advertisements. \u201cThese beauty businesses make it feel very normal, and present it as \u2018empowering\u2019 to change your appearance through injectables\u201d, Kasey says.<\/p>\n

As it currently stands, market researchers Grand View Research have attributed a value of $5.4 billion to the growing industry of facial injectables in Australia, and project it to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 27.3 per cent from 2023 to 2030.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more I clicked on advertisements and searched [for] businesses and looked at stories, the more suggestions popped up, which all fed into my desire to get the lip filler. It felt more normal and tangible than before,\u201d Kasey says.<\/p>\n

After paying a high price to get a particular lip technique, commonly referred to as the \u201cRussian lip technique\u201d, which involves a softer, more \u201cnatural\u201d injection of filler, Kasey felt short-changed by her experience, describing it as painful and uncomfortable. \u201cI did not go back.\u201d<\/p>\n

We should not condemn or judge an individual\u2019s desire to change, alter or modify their body \u2013 that is their choice. Where issues arise is in whether, when social media algorithms start deciding for us, free choice can really be harnessed online at all. Is it still possible to make up your own mind on social media? Or have the gendered mathematics that social media platforms rely on blurred the lines too fiercely?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ultimate aim is to trap users in the platforms and keep them there,\u201d Guiao says. \u201cAnd they will allow any type of content or advertising that contributes to this. In this way, all women therefore are just consumers waiting to be targeted at the right moment, mood, time of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our<\/i><\/b> Live Well newsletter<\/i><\/b>. <\/i><\/b>Get it in your inbox every Monday<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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