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Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 11, 2022

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Does Reddit use any kind of cross-account tracking system between multiple accounts? I've had interactions on a throwaway recently where it really felt like reddit knew who I was and almost, directed not just me to subreddits but people to me on that basis. It's...freakish. It's making me paranoid.

I don't think anyone here could know for sure. Presumably they have some way of tracking such things for admin-level stuff like ban evasion and self-promotion. But how would they direct people towards you specifically? Maybe on subs with huge post and comment counts they could list your posts/comments higher than normal for some specific people. That seems like an awful lot of work on their side though, and what's the benefit?

If that's happening, seems more likely something about your opinions or writing style sticks out. I've noticed before that I have several opinions and pet positions that seem rather unique, and wonder if anyone ever took the trouble to try to correlate other accounts across the internet based on that.

That seems like an awful lot of work on their side though, and what's the benefit?

Presumably, assuming it were happening ad arguendo, I would guess it's for micro-targeting ads and content? And then, once you already have this micro targeted content, you want users to engage with other users, increase conversations = increased engagement and time on platform getting served with ads.

I just started a new account, completely fresh, and I'm getting that "Of all the gin joints in all the world" feeling from the replies.