They're reading our thoughts!!! Light hearted 😘

[MistressoftheDarkSide]

I've had it happen before when things I've thought about coincidentally show up on my Facebook feed, most notably when I was putting on eye make up and wished someone would invent a sort of pad to stick on your cheek under your eye to catch the eye shadow dust so that you don't try wiping it off and look like you've been slugged in the face. I was alone in my bedroom, my phone was nowhere near my dressing table, I had not uttered one word about what I was doing, nor do I search for make up online. And blow me down, when I picked up my phone, there was an advert for that very thing.

I've just had it happen again.

Was reading a long thread about a domestic situation where lots of advice was given to the OP, and I thought, just thought, "Time to get your ducks in a row, and your squirrels in a circle" which goes back to a previous thread about the origins / use of the phrase "ducks in a row". I commented on that one with preferring the idea of squirrels in a circle, Wild West style. I didn't comment on the domestic situation thread because I had nothing new or different to offer.

I've just checked my Facebook and bugger me, the first three posts were feelgood stories about people adopting / feeding rescued squirrels.

Now I get that algorithms are sophisticated and can "predict" things that are likely to be of interest based on scrolling / hovering etc, but this is weird, right?

Yes, it's probably just coincidence, but am intrigued to know if any of you have experienced this?

(Yes, I'm probably nuts).

I was at lunch with several friends, one had a drink I had never heard of before, and we all started talking about it.
When I got home, I opened my 'phone to a FB advert for this drink.

I rang a dental practice to find out if they had availability and ever since I’ve had tooth cavity videos showing in my Instagram reels. Not something I’ve ever actively sought out!

@MistressoftheDarkSide I can't explain that eyeshadow thing

But Facebook have been asked and have denied about listening in. It's interesting that they were asked, in Congress I think. I understand it takes a ludicrous amount of processing so probably they aren't doing that.

But you actually typed out the thing about squirrels in a circle? Between what MN gives away and what Facebook scrape from your phone, that's quite feasible, isn't it?

@Hadalifeonce with regards to the drinks, if one of your friends googled it before you looked at Facebook, they will have linked you up as your phones will have been in close proximity.

I think that's how it works anyway.

"Time to get your ducks in a row, and your squirrels in a circle"
Is "squirrels in a circle" a bona fide saying?
<misses point of thread>

I hear what you're saying, but frankly when it comes to this sort of thing, if anyone from the tech world said anything in Congress or not, such as the sky is blue, I'd want incontrovertible proof 😅 but then, I am getting cynical as hell the older I get and the less the world makes sense to me.

The comment I made on here about squirrels in a circle was a few weeks ago, so while I get the whole scraping idea, it doesn't explain how simply thinking about it today, while reading a completely unrelated thread, not having been on the duck and squirrel thread for a fair while, would prompt squirrel videos on Facebook moments later.

As I say, fun coincidence most likely. The alternative is paranoia or too dystopia to contemplate 😅

Not yet, but I'm hoping it will catch on 😁

A medical condition came up that I thought about in silence in silence inside my own head - unfathomable and creepy

I think it's the Bader-Meinhof phenomenon - you have seen the ads before but then forgotten, because they are targeted at your demographic and that's where you've subconsciously got the idea from for a thing that catches the eyeshadow dust, so then when you see the ad a second time it feels like it's read your mind but you didn't notice it the other few times you saw it.

I had a weird one the other day though I think this was algorithm not coincidence - I was watching something on youtube and a whatsapp group chat pinged. It was my friend recommending a website she'd ordered clothes from and the way she said the name of the site made me think I was supposed to have heard of it, but I had never heard of it before at all. There was some back and forth discussion and chat and I went back to my youtube video. 5 minutes later the video had an ad break and the exact same clothing website was being advertised.

Fetch isn't going to happen.

Talking about something near your phone is explainable by the microphone and happens all the time but for some thing you haven't said out loud it's quite freaky

I've thought the same! Last year I saw an item in a shop that I had never seen before and thought "ah that's cool" - didn't tell anyone, didn't look it up. Couple days later I see an ad for the same item. Not seen it again since (the item or the ad).

I was sorting my hanging baskets out and noticed the brackets that slide on my fence posts were looking a bit rusty this weekend. Didn’t utter a word about them though. Today - advert for them appeared on my phone!!

Both DH and I have had this happen in the last couple of weeks on separate occasions - thoughts suddenly appearing as ads. Freaky.

squirrels in a circle
squirrels in a circle
squirrels in a circle

< excitedly skips over to Facebook > 😀🐿

Oh my word I've had this too ! I wonder if in the moment my brain got scrambled so u saw the ad first but thought I had the thought first ?!

I was in the car, sitting in silence with my own thoughts. I was thinking up a list of fictional horses and their riders for the picture round of a pub quiz. It was a new idea for me, and I was trying to think of 10 different fictional horses and their riders I could get photos of. When I got home and had a look at Facebook, it decided to show me a meme of Artax and Atreyu from The Neverending Story. They on my list. Prior to that moment, I had not even thought of that movie in over a decade, and had not spoken to anyone about my quiz round idea (last placed team in our village pub quiz have to devise a ‘losers’ round,’ and it’s always handy to have an idea up your sleeve in case you come last!)

This was such a niche thought I was very surprised. It reads your thoughts, I don’t know how!

sorry couldn't help it OP - love a squirrel gif 😜

It sounds crazy but I am convinced my thoughts are being listened to. It’s happened too many times now where I’ve thought about something and not said anything out loud and it’s popped up hours later. I sound nuts but I’ve honestly stopped taking note of when it happens because it seems that frequent.

@MistressoftheDarkSide I think I might have been hoping to communicate with you telepathically 😆 because actually I mentioned the Congress bit for exactly that reason. I find it very interesting that Congress asked that question!

However, my understanding is that for any processing of data gathered by the microphone, the tech behind it is so intensive that they wouldn't bother with it. Because they basically get enough information without doing that.

Adverts for things that a PP mentioned they stood next to in a shop, there's likely a QR code located nearby. So they will be advertising those items to you because they know you were looking at them. As far as I know, this is standard stuff in digital marketing and isn't this why we have QR codes - aren't they meant to be like a geolocation and marketing aid?

I remember at one point big shops talking about having enough information so that when you walk into the shop, they know if you're a new customer or a repeat customer. I'm not sure if they've achieved that or if it's still the aim.

it can't be too hard though. Isn't it the same principle as things like treasure hunts or tourist trails where you follow QR codes or online instructions?

One thing I do find weird about all of this is that no one ever says that they work in this area. I was talking to a tech journalist about this and I said to him that whenever I speak to someone in tech these days, if I have a question, they always answer that they don't know. He thinks that tech is so vast now, people are genuinely only able to know about their specific area.

I would have no clue whether he was right or wrong! 😂

They 100% listen in, I was talking to DH about booking a holiday to Florida and I started getting adverts for airlines doing Florida deals

I was complaining to the Asda delivery man that I can’t find a dentist and when he left I went on Facebook and was immediately shown adverts for private dentists

talking to my mum about needing a new sofa - Facebook suddenly starts showing DFS type adverts

The thoughts one is interesting as I’ve had that happen as well but put it down to me being paranoid! I was thinking about joining a martial arts class - never mentioned it out loud - next thing an advert pops up for a nearby karate club

it’s happened a few times with different things

do you watch Emily in Paris?

This reminds me of Mindy saying reassuringlyto Emily "they can't control your thoughts Emily, I'm from China. They tried that." 😂

I truthfully have also had this happen, and more than once.

Thank you all - veeeery interesting all round.

I also use Pinterest. I like upcycled clothing and jewellery Gothic stuff, art etc. I have a board of imagery that reminds me of my late DP. Out of the blue one day, I was offered a Snoopy meme related to bereavement. Snoopy was one of his childhood favourites. It was absolutely spot on for my state of mind that day. I had never looked for Snoopy on Pinterest.

I do try to be very rational about it all, and I am aware of the Baader Meinhoff thing. But sometimes, just sometimes....it's too flaming weird lol.

Maybe, as Dirk Gently says, everything really is connected!! And it's quantum entanglement?

Shall try a few thought experiments today and report back!

Have a lovely day 🥰

Ha ha ha.....

First pist on Facebook feed just now - picture of an ACDC tattoo, and underneath are the words " highway to hell - look a squirrel!!"

Heh heh heh....

Thing is it's pretty obvious by now that are phone are listening in and taking notes when we type and ads are targeted as a result. I don't like this but am aware it happens. There is, nonetheless logic to this. Phone listens, ads appear.

The same can't be said for our own private thoughts though, there's just no logical explanation. It happens to me a lot, I think of something completely random and it appears in some form in my ads, on my feed, as a suggestion or whatever. But I've neither typed or said these things out loud. The only explanation therefore is that it's reading our mind, but I'm also aware that logically speaking, that's impossible.

It's enough to send you a but batsbit if you think about it too much. Unfortunately I'm the type of person that believes there's an answer for everything, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how this is even possible. On this basis I can easily see how people end up down certain rabbit holes believing we're living in a simulation or the Matrix or whatever. I don't, but I can't find a way to explain it either.