NYTimes and LinkedIn Are Targeting ME

For weeks now (or so it seems) the NYTimes has been showing me a box in the right hand side of the screen marked “News for Legal Professionals.”

My reaction to this box when I first saw it was “how annoying”…folks that are not in the legal industry don’t need a box for legal professionals.  It’s actually funny how I forgot that I was a legal professional until just now.  In fact, I have clicked on stories in this box at least twice (each time thinking, how annoying this must be for “normal” folks).  It took me until just now to click on the “What’s this” link in the top right corner and it all came rushing in.

I am a member of LinkedIn (and I suspect that I have a “keep me logged in” cookie active).  I am also logged into NYTimes (which makes emailing stories so much easier).  Those two companies have obviously identified me as someone they share in common…and voila…they have shared information with each other to provide me with suggested stories.

Now, I am not opposed to folks like Amazon watching what I do and then offering me suggestions based on what I have done in the past (clicks and purchases) as compared with other Amazon shoppers like me.

This is the first time that I have noticed two companies sharing data about me.

In a small way, it is a bit creepy.  In a different way, I am clearly appreciative — after all, I have clicked on stories in that box (which means that I have found them relevant).

Now that I am noticing what’s going on, we’ll see how I react over time.

More from me on this later.