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... and I thought I was harsh with marketers. I don't want their calls, their unsolicited email, etc. I don't want them to have my personal information or be

... and I thought I was harsh with marketers. I don't want their calls, their unsolicited email, etc. I don't want them to have my personal information or be able to buy or sell my personal information. But I don't begrudge their ability to get word out for their product or service while funding content that I would otherwise get nickeled and dimed for or not have produced at all. Nothing they say is trustworthy by virtue of conflict of interest Everyone who says anything has that same conflict of interest. You do, I do, marketers do, salespeople do, engineers do, politicians do, scientists do. Completely dismissing value of an entire profession based upon self interest doesn't have a limiting principle. Marketing, even if you naively limit the term to just cover advertising, is a rich and useful function of capitalism and society in general. The key to dealing with it is in protecting basic freedoms like a right to privacy.

matheusmoreira 5y ago
> But I don't begrudge their ability to get word out for their product or service I do because in 99% of cases it's a deliberate waste of my time and attention. > Everyone who says anything has that same conflict of interest. I don't think so. The information I receive from friends and peers is far more trustworthy. With marketing, I get selective truths at best. Lots and lots of people on this site admit to adding "reddit" to their searches when looking for product reviews. Why? Because they don't trust marketers. We want real information from real people with real experiences, not some paid-for narrative. We especially want to know the risks, the negatives and the cons, precisely the kind of information marketers want to bury.
- anticristi 5y ago
  So how did your peers find out about robot vacuum cleaners, mobile phones, etc.? I guess you'll answer from their peer. And those? Since ads need to be conspecious by law, I don't see a conflict of interest. We know this is a carefully crafted story of the person who has stakes in the product or service.

matheusmoreira 5y ago

> But I don't begrudge their ability to get word out for their product or service I do because in 99% of cases it's a deliberate waste of my time and attention. > Everyone who says anything has that same conflict of interest. I don't think so. The information I receive from friends and peers is far more trustworthy. With marketing, I get selective truths at best. Lots and lots of people on this site admit to adding "reddit" to their searches when looking for product reviews. Why? Because they don't trust marketers. We want real information from real people with real experiences, not some paid-for narrative. We especially want to know the risks, the negatives and the cons, precisely the kind of information marketers want to bury.

anticristi 5y ago
So how did your peers find out about robot vacuum cleaners, mobile phones, etc.? I guess you'll answer from their peer. And those? Since ads need to be conspecious by law, I don't see a conflict of interest. We know this is a carefully crafted story of the person who has stakes in the product or service.