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Yes. People talk about addiction to social media or other attention-farming software, but not many people really take it seriously. People think they are unicor

Yes. People talk about addiction to social media or other attention-farming software, but not many people really take it seriously. People think they are unicorns and while some can get addicted or manipulated-- they think "not me. I am too savvy." As long this issue just keeps getting shrugged off as a new version of tv-is-bad hysteria 'media' companies will keep making their dollars and enslaving the minds of the the unwitting willing.

datavirtue 5y ago
Yeah, that was the point of the shill OP. Nothing to see hear folks...move along.
jacquesm 5y ago
One form this takes is that people with some regularity claim that 'all this advertising doesn't work on them' while having an iPhone, ridiculously over-priced in ear headphones, designer clothes with large logos on them and shoes with very visible branding. Advertising works, on everybody. The only way to get to a level playing field is to filter it out of your life as much as possible. The only thing I haven't found a solution for is billboards and radios and TVs playing in places that I have no control over.
- hindsightbias 5y ago
  My sneakers have branding because there isn’t a place to try jogging shoes with no branding. NB also made their logo reflective, so there is utility in that. All these people running in black shorts and shirts, there ought to be a law.
  - anigbrowl 5y ago
    For most of the last decade I've worn sneakers shoes with no visible branding unless you're very close or can look at the sole, even though they're by major shoe companies everyone knows. My current daily walking around shoes have a logo but it's smaller than my pinkie fingernail and I have to squint to notice it. You don't have to be a billboard if you don't want to, and you can still enjoy the comfort of good design/manufacture at very reasonable cost.
- speedcoder 5y ago
  https://www.tvbgone.com https://www.tvbgone.com meant as a prank. And I love using it almost anywhere.
  - slickdork 5y ago
    I miss when cell phones had built in IR and you could do this with an app.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    That looks like an excellent way to get lynched.
- derwiki 5y ago
  Is there a way to _prove_ one is less influenced by advertising? I have an Iphone but several models old, and most of my clothes are Amazon Basics/brands with no logo. So yea, I echo the claim. But I’m probably wrong. Where’s my blindspot? Is there a way to test how affected I am by ads?
  - zippystrider 5y ago
    A good benchmark would be your tendency to make purchases based on emotions, and also your tendency to make impulse purchases. I volunteered in several marketing positions for educational non-profit organizations and university clubs, and read books about marketing and advertising to try to improve at my job. A great deal of advertising tactics rely on emotional appeal first (e.g. identifying a human need or fear–like the want to belong, the want to find a good romantic relationship, the want to save time or money, the want to look smart–then selling a product or service as a solution. Another common tactic is to reduce friction to make a purchase, to make impulse purchasing easier (e.g. one-click purchases, very visible purchase buttons). A third is to use other high-pressure or manipulative tactics (e.g. a countdown timer to get a discount, or offering free gifts or books to make a purchase). You're likely to reduce the effectiveness of these advertising tactics on you by being aware of them (though there's a high chance they still have an effect). Besides knowledge from reading about advertising, good habits to reduce ad effectiveness include: delaying purchases, especially large ones, by writing them on a list and seeing if you still want them after a month; avoiding regular, small purchases of ~$20 because they add up; and holding yourself to a personal budget, where impulse spending comes at the cost of other life goals (e.g. setting up an emergency fund, saving to afford a vacation with a loved one, or pursuing educational training).
- zippystrider 5y ago
  >The only thing I haven't found a solution for is billboards and radios and TVs playing in places that I have no control over. This might sound silly, but I deliberately train my eyes to avoid looking at advertisements on posters whenever I take public transit (not completely successful, but it does reduce exposure). For radio advertisements, that's what the 'over-priced in ear headphones' are for (admittedly a luxury and not a necessity as I could achieve the same effect with earplugs or cheap, noise-isolating earphones, but I enjoy the high-quality music). TVs are the most difficult because they easily catch attention due to the moving picture. I also try to avoid looking at them like billboards when I go to the gym (plenty of TVs) and turn off the display whenever using the treadmill, but it's a conscious decision I make before walking in. Also, for what it's worth, I don't think the value of iPhones are overstated by advertising. I purchased my first one after reading a book by an academic about the lack of privacy in technology. It was a suitable option for a phone that's relatively private while working with relatively easy setup (versus most Linux phones). So, iPhone usage may reduce the effectiveness of targeted ads by collecting less data to use for advertisers.
- barrkel 5y ago
  And a large fraction of fashion items are made out of advertising; that is, the value proposition of displaying a branded item comes from the web of associations generated and maintained amongst your social group by the fashion brand's advertising efforts, which will in turn be associated with you by exhibiting the item. This means that it is actually possible to not be affected by advertising and still use fashion items, on the theory that everyone else is affected by advertising and the effect you want is to leverage that effect. I'm sure the most fashionable people are aware of this since they need to parse the fine distinctions of brand associations to maximize their desired effects. Ironically I think they may be the least affected by the advertising even while becoming the strongest real world advocates.
  - ikr678 5y ago
    Your can make your brand associations more meaningful though. I've started to embrace hyper-local street fashion. Wearing tshirts from local businesses in my area that I enjoy (bars/cafes/local brewery merchandise).
tcbawo 5y ago
I called my Aunts and Uncles for New Year's Day, and they all brought up politics within ten minute conversations. It's not that media is forming their opinions. It's framing the topics of their thoughts and conversations. Conveniently, all these topics such as national/state policy and compliance, crime statistics and trends can only be fed by more media consumption. I worry about the permanence of the effects from these behavioral patterns. ADHD is a real medical condition, but there is also something else at play. It feels like we haven't developed the vocabulary to talk about these issues properly. I would love to tell people (like my Aunts and Uncles) something to the effect of "you seem a little X". Where X means your perspective is clouded by excessive media consumption.
jrochkind1 5y ago
Succesfuly quitting smoking cigarettes two years ago gave me some additional insight into what "addiction" meant for me, what my relationship with cigarettes/nicotine was like for me. Which led to me for the first time fully recognizing my social media use as addictive, not just as a metaphor.

datavirtue 5y ago

Yeah, that was the point of the shill OP. Nothing to see hear folks...move along.

jacquesm 5y ago

One form this takes is that people with some regularity claim that 'all this advertising doesn't work on them' while having an iPhone, ridiculously over-priced in ear headphones, designer clothes with large logos on them and shoes with very visible branding. Advertising works, on everybody. The only way to get to a level playing field is to filter it out of your life as much as possible. The only thing I haven't found a solution for is billboards and radios and TVs playing in places that I have no control over.

hindsightbias 5y ago
My sneakers have branding because there isn’t a place to try jogging shoes with no branding. NB also made their logo reflective, so there is utility in that. All these people running in black shorts and shirts, there ought to be a law.
- anigbrowl 5y ago
  For most of the last decade I've worn sneakers shoes with no visible branding unless you're very close or can look at the sole, even though they're by major shoe companies everyone knows. My current daily walking around shoes have a logo but it's smaller than my pinkie fingernail and I have to squint to notice it. You don't have to be a billboard if you don't want to, and you can still enjoy the comfort of good design/manufacture at very reasonable cost.
speedcoder 5y ago
https://www.tvbgone.com https://www.tvbgone.com meant as a prank. And I love using it almost anywhere.
- slickdork 5y ago
  I miss when cell phones had built in IR and you could do this with an app.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  That looks like an excellent way to get lynched.
derwiki 5y ago
Is there a way to _prove_ one is less influenced by advertising? I have an Iphone but several models old, and most of my clothes are Amazon Basics/brands with no logo. So yea, I echo the claim. But I’m probably wrong. Where’s my blindspot? Is there a way to test how affected I am by ads?
- zippystrider 5y ago
  A good benchmark would be your tendency to make purchases based on emotions, and also your tendency to make impulse purchases. I volunteered in several marketing positions for educational non-profit organizations and university clubs, and read books about marketing and advertising to try to improve at my job. A great deal of advertising tactics rely on emotional appeal first (e.g. identifying a human need or fear–like the want to belong, the want to find a good romantic relationship, the want to save time or money, the want to look smart–then selling a product or service as a solution. Another common tactic is to reduce friction to make a purchase, to make impulse purchasing easier (e.g. one-click purchases, very visible purchase buttons). A third is to use other high-pressure or manipulative tactics (e.g. a countdown timer to get a discount, or offering free gifts or books to make a purchase). You're likely to reduce the effectiveness of these advertising tactics on you by being aware of them (though there's a high chance they still have an effect). Besides knowledge from reading about advertising, good habits to reduce ad effectiveness include: delaying purchases, especially large ones, by writing them on a list and seeing if you still want them after a month; avoiding regular, small purchases of ~$20 because they add up; and holding yourself to a personal budget, where impulse spending comes at the cost of other life goals (e.g. setting up an emergency fund, saving to afford a vacation with a loved one, or pursuing educational training).
zippystrider 5y ago
>The only thing I haven't found a solution for is billboards and radios and TVs playing in places that I have no control over. This might sound silly, but I deliberately train my eyes to avoid looking at advertisements on posters whenever I take public transit (not completely successful, but it does reduce exposure). For radio advertisements, that's what the 'over-priced in ear headphones' are for (admittedly a luxury and not a necessity as I could achieve the same effect with earplugs or cheap, noise-isolating earphones, but I enjoy the high-quality music). TVs are the most difficult because they easily catch attention due to the moving picture. I also try to avoid looking at them like billboards when I go to the gym (plenty of TVs) and turn off the display whenever using the treadmill, but it's a conscious decision I make before walking in. Also, for what it's worth, I don't think the value of iPhones are overstated by advertising. I purchased my first one after reading a book by an academic about the lack of privacy in technology. It was a suitable option for a phone that's relatively private while working with relatively easy setup (versus most Linux phones). So, iPhone usage may reduce the effectiveness of targeted ads by collecting less data to use for advertisers.
barrkel 5y ago
And a large fraction of fashion items are made out of advertising; that is, the value proposition of displaying a branded item comes from the web of associations generated and maintained amongst your social group by the fashion brand's advertising efforts, which will in turn be associated with you by exhibiting the item. This means that it is actually possible to not be affected by advertising and still use fashion items, on the theory that everyone else is affected by advertising and the effect you want is to leverage that effect. I'm sure the most fashionable people are aware of this since they need to parse the fine distinctions of brand associations to maximize their desired effects. Ironically I think they may be the least affected by the advertising even while becoming the strongest real world advocates.
- ikr678 5y ago
  Your can make your brand associations more meaningful though. I've started to embrace hyper-local street fashion. Wearing tshirts from local businesses in my area that I enjoy (bars/cafes/local brewery merchandise).

tcbawo 5y ago

I called my Aunts and Uncles for New Year's Day, and they all brought up politics within ten minute conversations. It's not that media is forming their opinions. It's framing the topics of their thoughts and conversations. Conveniently, all these topics such as national/state policy and compliance, crime statistics and trends can only be fed by more media consumption. I worry about the permanence of the effects from these behavioral patterns. ADHD is a real medical condition, but there is also something else at play. It feels like we haven't developed the vocabulary to talk about these issues properly. I would love to tell people (like my Aunts and Uncles) something to the effect of "you seem a little X". Where X means your perspective is clouded by excessive media consumption.

jrochkind1 5y ago

Succesfuly quitting smoking cigarettes two years ago gave me some additional insight into what "addiction" meant for me, what my relationship with cigarettes/nicotine was like for me. Which led to me for the first time fully recognizing my social media use as addictive, not just as a metaphor.