Among the world's population of over 7 billion people, more than 3.6 billion are active on social media, with 3 billion of them being mobile users. According to a 2021 survey, LinkedIn receives 1.523 billion visits per month; Twitter, 3.62 billion; YouTube, 32.77 billion; and Pinterest, 900 million. More than 68% of companies are already using social media for marketing promotion. Social media has two unique characteristics that cannot be matched by other channels: powerful interaction and viral spread. One addresses the issue of traffic, and the other solves the problem of conversion, making them highly effective for business promotion. Companies can achieve viral spread through interesting content sharing and pull closer to customers through interaction, increasing trust and improving conversion. So when you browse various social platforms on your phone, you are encountering the viruses they spread. You might often feel annoyed, but have you ever thought about the story behind it? For example: Why do I see this type of ad on this platform? Why doesn't my friend see it on their phone? Why are my parents' social media ads all about scenery and health, while mine are all about selling clothes? Alright, let's explore the secrets behind this together!

Social media has become an integral part of modern life, significantly influencing how brands interact with their audiences. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter offer businesses unprecedented opportunities to engage with consumers, increase brand awareness, and drive sales. However, these platforms also raise important questions about the inclusivity and representation within advertisements. Our project delves into the intricacies of social media advertising, specifically focusing on gender bias and racial representation. We aim to examine how different brands utilize these platforms to target their audiences and whether these advertisements perpetuate stereotypes or promote a more inclusive representation.

By analyzing data from various social media platforms, our project seeks to uncover patterns and biases in social media advertising. We approach this analysis through the lenses of gender studies and critical race theory to understand the broader societal impact of these advertising practices. Our critical questions guide the research:

1. Gender Ratio Comparison Across Platforms:

   • How does the gender ratio in advertisements vary across different social media platforms?

2. Racial Representation Comparison Across Platforms:

   • How does racial representation in advertisements differ across various social media platforms?

3. Gender Ratio Comparison Across Brand Types:

   • How does the gender ratio in advertisements differ among various types of brands?

   • (Comparing columns B & G)

4. Racial Representation Comparison Across Brand Types:

   • How does racial representation in advertisements vary among different types of brands?

5. Ad Distribution Across Cities:

   • How does the distribution of advertisements vary across different cities?

By addressing these questions, our project aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of gender and racial representation in social media advertising, highlighting areas where inclusivity can be improved. We hope our findings will contribute to a better understanding of how digital advertising practices impact societal norms and consumer behavior.

We integrated theoretical lenses and methods into analyzing how the power dynamics associated with gender and race either get reproduced or challenged through these social media advertisements. Grounded in the traditions of feminist theory and critical race theory, we were able to critically examine the representation of constructed gender roles and analyze biases embedded in systemic racism presented within the ads. Our methodology consisted of a deep quantitative content analysis of advertisements on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest social media platforms. Each ad was carefully keyed for variables such as gender and race, classified as male, female, or non-binary, and race as White, Hispanic, etc. Along with the type of product and geographic location. Coding was performed by hand, and intercoder reliability tests were established to ensure consistency. Following this, we analyzed the data using statistical methods that looked at patterns and trends in gender and racial representation across different platforms and brand sectors. The visualizations of these data trace patterns and disparities to foster clarity operatively on how such dynamics play out in social media advertising. We did a geographic analysis to determine which cities the ads were most distributed. We used geocoding to create heat maps of several towns, intuitively depicting where the advertising is more intense. The approach above reflected intersectionality in how ads portray various persons from several marginalized groups, whether women of color or otherwise, and underlined multifaceted bias in digital marketing. Our findings show where social media advertising has room for improvement in its efforts to foster the uplifting, inclusive, and equitable representation that is required in creating a more just digital advertising landscape.

The graph shows the percentage of male, female, and non-binary representations noted in advertisements on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. It picks out disparities in gender representation among these platforms. We can see that. Generally, Facebook tends to have a more excellent male representation in comparison with the other sites, which are more balanced between males and females …and only two of them have non-binary representation. Whereas Twitter has a significant representation of both genders, naturally, there is a remarkable difference between female and male portrayal. 

The project has shed light on the problems already mentioned: gender bias and racial representation in social media advertisement. Applying feminist and critical race theories, we were dissecting and analyzing ways advertisements are a reflection and reinforce social standards. The findings, thus, point to calls for greater inclusive and diverse representations in social media advertising. The data suggested quite clear patterns of gender and racial biases across most social media channels and brand sectors. Women are predominantly imposed in advertising of the fashion, health, and home sectors; most advertisements considered convey the stereotyping of typical gender roles. Similarly, racial representation is highly disproportionate, with the majority of individuals in the ads being White, whereas other racial groups most notably Hispanics and black are underrepresented. These biases in digital advertising not only mirror the existing social inequalities but have the potential to further perpetuate them. Continuously portraying certain groups of people in stereotypical roles, or not including them at all, can reinforce stereotypical thinking through advertisements on social media and decrease the visibility of marginalized groups. Our project demands conscious effort on the part of brands and advertisers to acknowledge and correct these biases. Inequality in perception is an area where social media can make a positive difference in the world, and hence, there needs to be equality in the display screens. Advertisers should come up with material that features individuals representing diverse groups, help break stereotype imagery, and provide an identity representation at large. Among the many ways this can be achieved are routine audits of brand advertising content for diversity in representation, engaging in collaborative creation with a diverse creator and influencer base, and reaching out to the community to learn its vantage points and experiences across different demographic perspectives, more authentic and inclusive ads can be made, really hitting home with a broader set of audiences. In summary, through our findings, we tried to determine the huge tasks lying ahead about achieving entire gender and racial equity about social media advertising. We hope our findings raise awareness and spur brands to progress with higher, more detailed commitments to inclusive advertising practices. Social media marketing will grow more potent as a tool for positive social change through embracing diversity and fighting stereotypes.