Twitter keeps a list of everything it thinks you're interested in - here's how to find it

Paige LeskinNov 29, 2018, 20:51 IST

Regis Duvignau/Reuters

Twitter collects a lot of data on you, including a compiled list of "inferred interests" it uses to personalize your experience.
This interests list was initially rolled out to Twitter users a while back, but the feature was rediscovered this week and users have been tweeting their own lists, some of which include topics are weirdly specific and seemingly inaccurate.
Find out below how to find your own list of what Twitter thinks you're interested in.

If you've ever wondered what Twitter knows about you (or thinks it knows about you) based on your online activities, there's an easy way to find out.

There's a special "inferred interests" dossier that Twitter creates for every user of the social network. These personalized lists are Twitter's best guesses about your predilections, from favorite TV shows to sports, and even some seemingly random stuff.

The "inferred interests" data was made available to users more than a year ago, but the existence of this feature has for some reason resurfaced this week on Twitter. Users have been tweeting out their lists of personalized interests, which include topics such as news, science, and soccer.

"These are some of the interests matched to you based on your profile and activity that are used to personalize your experience, including ads," Twitter says about your inferred interests. "You can adjust them if something doesn't look right."

The random and sometimes weirdly specific nature of some of these inferred interests are raising chuckles among some users:

I checked mine, and Twitter seems to think I'm incredibly interested in the Shrek reboot - so much that it's listed twice.

Here's how to check out what Twitter thinks your interests are:

See Twitter keeps a list of everything it thinks you're interested in - here's how to find it >>

You can find out your interests, according to Twitter, under your "Settings and privacy" tab.

Select "Your Twitter data," which is found all the way toward the bottom of your settings list.

Scroll down to the section titled "Interests and ads data." Not only can you find your "inferred interests" collected by Twitter (the first section), but you can also discover what data Twitter has collected — and shared— so it can personalize the advertisements it shows you on its platform.

Some of my Twitter interests make sense, since I do report on news and technology, after all. But some of the others don't make much sense — specifically my apparently significant interests in, "Shrek is getting a reboot by producer behind Despicable Me" and "People are calling The New York times following Press Secretary Sarah Sanders' statement."

You can also find your Twitter interests by clicking on this link and entering your password.

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Twitter keeps a list of everything it thinks you're interested in - here's how to find it

You can find out your interests, according to Twitter, under your "Settings and privacy" tab.

Select "Your Twitter data," which is found all the way toward the bottom of your settings list.

Scroll down to the section titled "Interests and ads data." Not only can you find your "inferred interests" collected by Twitter (the first section), but you can also discover what data Twitter has collected — and shared— so it can personalize the advertisements it shows you on its platform.