3 ms·

<< selling ads is selling ideas and psychological manipulation Yep and social media got unfettered access to real thoughts and patterns of almost entire intern

<< selling ads is selling ideas and psychological manipulation Yep and social media got unfettered access to real thoughts and patterns of almost entire internet population for a while. I would be stunned if they were not able to distill a way to determine when a given message works best ( not just what message works best for a given task ). Marketing always had people divided into various groups they could sell to. Adtech, made into real science. << People often overestimate how good they are at defending themselves from propaganda because they are only counting the propaganda that is not targeted at them and not the propaganda that does work (propaganda doesn't mean bad either). Being aware helps, but you are right. I found myself nodding, when upon reflection it was clear I was being manipulated based on later facts.

godelski 4y ago
> I would be stunned if they were not able to distill a way to determine when a given message works best This is called microtargeting[0]. > Being aware helps, but you are right. I found myself nodding, when upon reflection it was clear I was being manipulated based on later facts. Well I can't stress enough that this isn't always a bad thing. Propaganda can even be beneficial. It can help people band together for important things (e.g. informing people about climate change). But we also should be aware that we are often manipulated. I think it is fine when it is for the good (hard to define though, which is problematic) but not okay for bad purposes. Paved with good intentions after all. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microtargeting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microtargeting