Whether you know it or not, Facebook has already come to a conclusion about your political leanings.
The social networking site categorizes every user into groups such as liberal, conservative or moderate based on their activity on the site, including the user’s stated political preference on his or her profile, as well as which pages are liked.
The New York Times says that doesn’t just apply to explicitly political pages. The site makes deductions about a user’s political bent based on that of people who like many of the same pages.
The categorization is used to tailor which ads are shown to which users, allowing political campaigns to target their advertising to a specific demographic. For example, the Times reported that the Donald Trump campaign paid to have its ads shown to moderate voters.
To find out where Facebook places you on the political spectrum, go to facebook.com/ads/preferences, and select the “Lifestyle & Culture” tab under the “Interests” section. The group Facebook has placed you in will appear in parentheses in the “US Politics” box.
Does Facebook have your politics down cold? Does Facebook know you better than you know yourself? Take the steps above, and let us know in the comments if the social network has you figured out.