Austin,TX — AUSTIN -- It looks like a viral internet claim, but this one is true. It claims that "Facebook has you labeled as either Very liberal, liberal, moderate, conservative or very conservative," and says you can see which.
To do so, users simply open Facebook on their phone or computer and go to Settings > account settings > ads > your information > your categories > US Politics.
In that list, users can see their political affiliation as well as other key phrases and demographics that Facebook has put the user into.
UT Professor and Social Media Expert Dr. Angeline Close Scheinbaum said that this part of Facebook is nothing new.
"When you see an ad, it is directly to you for a purpose because of your demographics, because of your psychographic or because of past things you've liked or clicked on," she said.
But, as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg prepares to talk to Congress this week about the Cambridge Analytica data mining, Schienbaum said users should take a renewed look at their online actions.
"To what point should we just assume that we have no privacy," she asked. "That's a scary thought but it might be realistic to think that ... you might not necessarily delete your account, but you'll likely start using it less."