After I wrote about the shopping bots, I received some comments about other types of bots. Do you remember the 2016 election and all of the uproar about the Russians interfering in the election? Part of that was using bots, according to the final congressional report issued last summer. Bots come in many different forms. Some bots try to collect your personal information as you surf the Internet. Some bots try to reinforce your opinions about something. Those are part of the so-called “great echo chamber.” Speaking about surfing, as you go across the Internet and looking at things, bots are watching.
I’m sure you know that, but why don’t you try a little experiment? It’s straightforward. The idea is to pick something you have absolutely no interest in and start looking at that topic. A fun one to use is yachts. You will soon find all kinds of helpful ads about yachts and their accessories. Narrow your viewing to only looking at yachts that cost a million dollars or more. The yachts that come up are exciting, and you’ll find out things you never knew about big yachts. However, you will soon see things starting to come up with costly items from Rolex watches to jewelry to multimillion-dollar homes. You will end up finding out many things, including how closely you are watched on the Internet.
I don’t think this is always bad. It’s a season where I’m Christmas shopping online. I’m looking for a gift, and suddenly ads are appearing for other items. The ads are always for something close I hadn’t considered. I find it sort of like being in a big store looking at a possible gift, but seeing something else might even be better and buying it. In this case, I find bots useful.
In this time of Covid 19, we need some entertainment. Try my little experiment and start looking at expensive yachts. I’m sure you will find it entertaining. You may even find yourself dreaming of sailing to some exotic tropical island!
