Forbes: Why Do Obama Supporters Appear In Facebook Ads As Romney Fans?

[Newsjock]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthof/2012/10/31/why-do-obama-supporters-appear-in-facebook-ads-as-romney-fans

Recently, I’ve seen seeing a Sponsored Story ad on Facebook pages indicating that several friends “like” Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. No surprise there. Sponsored Stories are those personalized ads the social network allows advertisers to run that show friends have “liked” a brand, and they’re increasingly common as Facebook doubles down on social advertising.

But what on Earth was the name of a friend, whom I know is a vocal Obama supporter, doing on a Romney ad? The answer raises questions about how effective, or at least how accurate, these ads are–not necessarily due to a particular fault by Facebook but thanks to the byzantine rules and privacy features that have developed over years of user outrage and resulting Facebook accommodations.

... To be clear, you can see Romney’s posts on his page without “liking” him, but to see them in your own news feed, you need to “like” him. And once you do, like it or not, you become potential fodder for an ad that will appear to your friends.

... Here’s how to opt out of appearing in social ads, Romney’s or anyone else’s: Go to Privacy Settings at the very top right of your page, then to the Ads, Apps, and Websites “Edit Settings” link, then to Ads. Set your social ads and third-party ad settings to show your actions to “No one.”

[justiceischeap]

1. Romney even lies with Facebook. nt

[louis-t]

2. You can't hide them or get rid of them on your page once they show up.

You have to change settings so they never get to you.

[deaniac21]

3. Delete your temporary files, cookies, history, browsing history