{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T16:56:19Z","timestamp":1778000179058,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":83,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,1]],"date-time":"2021-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1609459200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Big Data &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Political campaigns increasingly rely on Facebook for reaching their constituents, particularly through ad targeting. Facebook\u2019s business model is premised on a promise to connect advertisers with the \u201cright\u201d users: those likely to click, download, engage, purchase. The company pursues this promise (in part) by algorithmically inferring users\u2019 interests from their data and providing advertisers with a means of targeting users by their inferred interests. In this study, we explore for whom this interest classification system works in order to build on conversations in critical data studies about the ways such systems produce knowledge about the world rooted in power structures. We critically analyze the classification system from a variety of empirical vantage points\u2014via user data; Facebook documentation, training, and patents; and Facebook\u2019s tools for advertisers\u2014and through theoretical concepts from a variety of domains. In this, we focus on the ways the classification system shapes possibilities for political representation and voice, particularly for people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ people. We argue that this \u201cbig data-driven\u201d classification system should be read as political: it articulates a stance not only on what issues are or are not important in the U.S. public sphere, but also on who is considered a significant enough public to be adequately accounted for.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/2053951721996046","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,10]],"date-time":"2021-03-10T06:57:01Z","timestamp":1615359421000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":41,"title":["\u201cReach the right people\u201d: The politics of \u201cinterests\u201d in Facebook\u2019s classification system for ad targeting"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"8","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1243-0131","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kelley","family":"Cotter","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mel","family":"Medeiros","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4348-6939","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chankyung","family":"Pak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"United International College, Guangdong, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5762-4688","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kjerstin","family":"Thorson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-2053951721996046","unstructured":"Aguilera J (2016) Another Word for \u2018illegal alien\u2019 at the Library of Congress: Contentious .\n                      The New York Times,\n                      22 July. 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Available at: https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/hud-sues-facebook-housing-discrimination-advertising-algorithms (accessed 9 February 2021)."},{"key":"bibr77-2053951721996046","volume-title":"The Daily You","author":"Turow J","year":"2011"},{"key":"bibr78-2053951721996046","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/j.ctv1pnc1k7"},{"key":"bibr79-2053951721996046","unstructured":"Wong JC (2020) \u2018Putin could only dream of it': How Trump became the biggest source of disinformation in 2020. The Guardian, November 2. Available at: https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2020\/nov\/02\/trump-us-election-disinformation-russia (accessed 9 February 2021)."},{"key":"bibr80-2053951721996046","unstructured":"Yan R, Singla A, Garcia-Martinez AF, et\u00a0al. (2014) Inferring target clusters based on social connections. U.S. Patent No. 2014\/00894.00A1. 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