Profiling

In the context of social media, profiling refers to the practice of taking a user's data and using it to create a digital profile. A social media profile is more than just the kind of superficial information one might put on a résumé. It reveals the essential persona of the Na'vi, complete with behavioral patterns, interests, and other personal characteristics that are constantly being fine-tuned and updated.

What's more, this profiled persona has an interactive component. As if this weren't enough, the event horizon of a social media profile extends to a user's 'close friends' and 'followers. ' On the social media platform known as Facebook, for instance, a user might be revealed in extreme close-up to a person who has a 'friend' on Facebook.

Profiling is not yet an exact science, but scientists (and advertisers) are getting better at it. This has obvious implications for privacy. It also has obvious implications for the National Security Agency, which is the agency that does .

. . (see next chapter).