4 ms·

MTV was not watching you interactively. There was no data "dance" between your usage pattern and what shows MTV showed you. There was no Feedback Loop. This is

MTV was not watching you interactively. There was no data "dance" between your usage pattern and what shows MTV showed you. There was no Feedback Loop. This is much more sinister than passive consumption of media.

brazzledazzle 8y ago
There was a dance but it was broad, clumsy and tailored towards demographics that were themselves broadly and clumsily lumped together. And the feedback loop was glacial. But comparing that to what they do today is like comparing cavemen banging stones together to an industrial laser cutter.
aylmao 8y ago
I think it's crazy how the same narrative changes so much. I remember the internet and social media used to be so much better than TV. TV was controlled by big corporations who wanted to brainwash everyone. 1/3 of the time was ads that only stupefied you, and the rest were shows that did the same. They would do anything for ratings-- CNN was a bastion of treachery dividing the country by presenting politics as sports for the sake of viewership. People were glad Crossfire got canceled (now all of CNN is essentially Crossfire). But social media? What a tool for free speech and change! It was the breath of fresh air that fought away big corporations, that gave us the Arab Spring, that let anyone with something to say become famous and have a voice and an audience, for free! It provided a platform for critical thinking instead of passive consumption! This data "dance" was the 8th wonder of the world and news articles were being written about how clever Obama's campaign had been to use analytics and "research" to get the edge on the campaign. I'm not saying any one view is right and the other wrong but something I've noticed about Americans is that they are a very scared people and are very quick at painting things black or white (: The world is not so scary, and most things lie somewhere on a grayscale.
- colechristensen 8y ago
  >something I've noticed about Americans is that they are a very scared people and are very quick at painting things black or white This can be seen a lot and it seems quite like the Christian narrative has deep roots in some parts of the world even among non-believers. The idea that everybody is looking at the world through a good-vs-evil lens explains a lot. Mythology is a powerful force, it can't just be dumped, it needs updating.
colechristensen 8y ago
There absolutely was. You think MTV didn't use focus groups and Neilson ratings and all manner of data to target and 'optimize' for maximum effect on their desired audience? It doesn't have to be 'you' specifically, you're not that unique. Things that are effective on your population are effective on you. If you were in a different population you had to change the channel, but it is not really all that different. Maybe marginally more efficient now.

brazzledazzle 8y ago

There was a dance but it was broad, clumsy and tailored towards demographics that were themselves broadly and clumsily lumped together. And the feedback loop was glacial. But comparing that to what they do today is like comparing cavemen banging stones together to an industrial laser cutter.

aylmao 8y ago

I think it's crazy how the same narrative changes so much. I remember the internet and social media used to be so much better than TV. TV was controlled by big corporations who wanted to brainwash everyone. 1/3 of the time was ads that only stupefied you, and the rest were shows that did the same. They would do anything for ratings-- CNN was a bastion of treachery dividing the country by presenting politics as sports for the sake of viewership. People were glad Crossfire got canceled (now all of CNN is essentially Crossfire). But social media? What a tool for free speech and change! It was the breath of fresh air that fought away big corporations, that gave us the Arab Spring, that let anyone with something to say become famous and have a voice and an audience, for free! It provided a platform for critical thinking instead of passive consumption! This data "dance" was the 8th wonder of the world and news articles were being written about how clever Obama's campaign had been to use analytics and "research" to get the edge on the campaign. I'm not saying any one view is right and the other wrong but something I've noticed about Americans is that they are a very scared people and are very quick at painting things black or white (: The world is not so scary, and most things lie somewhere on a grayscale.

colechristensen 8y ago
>something I've noticed about Americans is that they are a very scared people and are very quick at painting things black or white This can be seen a lot and it seems quite like the Christian narrative has deep roots in some parts of the world even among non-believers. The idea that everybody is looking at the world through a good-vs-evil lens explains a lot. Mythology is a powerful force, it can't just be dumped, it needs updating.

colechristensen 8y ago

There absolutely was. You think MTV didn't use focus groups and Neilson ratings and all manner of data to target and 'optimize' for maximum effect on their desired audience? It doesn't have to be 'you' specifically, you're not that unique. Things that are effective on your population are effective on you. If you were in a different population you had to change the channel, but it is not really all that different. Maybe marginally more efficient now.