Leiden University Student Repository

Veys, Tugche (2021)

Micro-targeting as a paradox: The Cambridge Analytica Scandal

Master thesis | Public Administration (MSc)

Micro-targeting is a tool to create personalized advertisements for individuals, especially for those who use social media. Even though the current debate indicates that micro-targeting is a privacy-invasive exercise, social media users equally make use of this tool for their own preferences. This produces a paradox, being, the micro-targeting paradox. While individuals seek privacy, they also willingly provide their valuable information in order to make use of the services that digital platforms offer. An eminent example of this is Facebook where advertisements are densely visible to the user. Therefore, this thesis explores the micro-targeting paradox through the Facebook- Cambridge Analytica scandal. The paper finds evidence that the reason for ongoing user engagement despite and even after the scandal is due to the micro-targeting paradox.

micro-targeting

social media

Cambridge Analytica

micro-targeting paradox

privacy

Facebook

Author

Veys, Tugche

Faculty

Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs

Specialisation

Economics and Governance

Supervisors

Klievink, A.J.

ECTS Credits

20 ECTS

Language

en