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Remember the days after Rowhammer and Heartbleed, when every new security vulnerability needed its own catchy name and domain name website? This is the science

by sho_hn 4y ago

Remember the days after Rowhammer and Heartbleed, when every new security vulnerability needed its own catchy name and domain name website? This is the science version of that. Branding is eating the world.

preommr 4y ago
> Branding is eating the world. Not realizing that it always has is why it's still effective. History is written by the victors and victors tend to have the best marketting.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
mumblemumble 4y ago
It's inescapable. 40 years ago, when articles went into print publications, you'd just get your paper into a key print journal and then trust that everyone who gets it would at least look through the article headlines and read the abstracts of articles that seemed relevant to them. And it was manageable because you'd only have a few new issues rolling in per month. But arXiv had an average of 167 CS papers being submitted per day in 2021. An academic who wants to keep their career alive needs to resort to every trick in the book to be heard above that din.
- V__ 4y ago
  Isn't this more a problem of not good enough curation? There are more papers now than ever, but the signal is probably getting worse and worse.
  - mumblemumble 4y ago
    How does one, practically speaking, curate article publication in a world with arXiv? Curation kind of requires gatekeepers, and good gatekeeping is a full-time job that needs to be paid for. In the days of print journals, there was both a motivation, because you can only print so many articles per month due to materials costs, and a steady revenue stream to pay for it, because everyone has to pay for the journals to get any access to articles at all. The Internet's been eroding both of those factors for a good quarter century now.
- cultofmetatron 4y ago
  hmm. sounds like a good use case for the chatgpt api
xpe 4y ago
Is branding the concept in play? I don’t see it being a very good metaphorical fit in comparison to my suggestion below. Branding requires a common theme over multiple things (such as products or events). I think we’re seeing something closer to title optimization in the service of marketing. But even marketing isn’t a great fit. Upon reflecting on the Wikipedia definition of marketing, it strikes me that title optimization is only a tiny part of what “academic research marketing” could be. In the most generous sense, it could mean reaching out to media sources fairly early in the research/writing process to help craft a paper that will be interesting to the desired audience. Wikipedia quotes: > Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emphasize in advertising; operation of advertising campaigns; attendance at trade shows and public events; design of products and packaging attractive to buyers; defining the terms of sale, such as price, discounts, warranty, and return policy; product placement in media or with people believed to influence the buying habits of others; agreements with retailers, wholesale distributors, or resellers; and attempts to create awareness of, loyalty to, and positive feelings about a brand. > A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and store value as brand equity for the object identified, to the benefit of the brand's customers, its owners and shareholders. > Personal branding is the conscious and intentional effort to create and influence public perception of an individual by positioning them as an authority in their industry, elevating their credibility, and differentiating themselves from the competition, to ultimately advance their career, widen their circle of influence, and have a larger impact.
nullc 4y ago
> Remember the days after Rowhammer and Heartbleed, when every new security vulnerability needed its own catchy name and domain name website? This is the science version of that. Branding is eating the world. Sorry, are you referring to brandpocalypse?

by sho_hn 4y ago

preommr 4y ago

> Branding is eating the world. Not realizing that it always has is why it's still effective. History is written by the victors and victors tend to have the best marketting.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

mumblemumble 4y ago

It's inescapable. 40 years ago, when articles went into print publications, you'd just get your paper into a key print journal and then trust that everyone who gets it would at least look through the article headlines and read the abstracts of articles that seemed relevant to them. And it was manageable because you'd only have a few new issues rolling in per month. But arXiv had an average of 167 CS papers being submitted per day in 2021. An academic who wants to keep their career alive needs to resort to every trick in the book to be heard above that din.

V__ 4y ago
Isn't this more a problem of not good enough curation? There are more papers now than ever, but the signal is probably getting worse and worse.
- mumblemumble 4y ago
  How does one, practically speaking, curate article publication in a world with arXiv? Curation kind of requires gatekeepers, and good gatekeeping is a full-time job that needs to be paid for. In the days of print journals, there was both a motivation, because you can only print so many articles per month due to materials costs, and a steady revenue stream to pay for it, because everyone has to pay for the journals to get any access to articles at all. The Internet's been eroding both of those factors for a good quarter century now.
cultofmetatron 4y ago
hmm. sounds like a good use case for the chatgpt api

xpe 4y ago

Is branding the concept in play? I don’t see it being a very good metaphorical fit in comparison to my suggestion below. Branding requires a common theme over multiple things (such as products or events). I think we’re seeing something closer to title optimization in the service of marketing. But even marketing isn’t a great fit. Upon reflecting on the Wikipedia definition of marketing, it strikes me that title optimization is only a tiny part of what “academic research marketing” could be. In the most generous sense, it could mean reaching out to media sources fairly early in the research/writing process to help craft a paper that will be interesting to the desired audience. Wikipedia quotes: > Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emphasize in advertising; operation of advertising campaigns; attendance at trade shows and public events; design of products and packaging attractive to buyers; defining the terms of sale, such as price, discounts, warranty, and return policy; product placement in media or with people believed to influence the buying habits of others; agreements with retailers, wholesale distributors, or resellers; and attempts to create awareness of, loyalty to, and positive feelings about a brand. > A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and store value as brand equity for the object identified, to the benefit of the brand's customers, its owners and shareholders. > Personal branding is the conscious and intentional effort to create and influence public perception of an individual by positioning them as an authority in their industry, elevating their credibility, and differentiating themselves from the competition, to ultimately advance their career, widen their circle of influence, and have a larger impact.

nullc 4y ago

> Remember the days after Rowhammer and Heartbleed, when every new security vulnerability needed its own catchy name and domain name website? This is the science version of that. Branding is eating the world. Sorry, are you referring to brandpocalypse?