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The thing about language and culture is that they adapt. This essay of of Orwell has been pretty popular for a while and people know what language to avoid when
by yedava 3y ago
The thing about language and culture is that they adapt. This essay of of Orwell has been pretty popular for a while and people know what language to avoid when employing Orwellian tactics.
A modern example of Orwellian language can be found in the advertiser based businesses helmed by many of the biggest tech companies. If you are using straightforward language, the products built by these extremely profitable companies have one singular purpose - to collect as much data as possible from the user, while keeping the user in the dark about it, and then use the data to manipulate user behavior so that they buy the stuff advertisers sell them.
But with the way these companies talk about their products, you'd be hard pressed to figure out how the products make money. They'd make grandiose claims about how they are changing the world for the better, how they are connecting people, how they are producing value and so on... all the while deceiving the users.
- horeszko 3y agoMy rule of thumb is to avoid using a software product/service if the business model is not self-evident or vague on first impression. Of course I have other considerations but I save myself a lot of effort in selecting software to use this way. If a product/service passes this rule of thumb then I dig deeper to see if it good to use (doesn't violate freedom or privacy, isn't manipulative etc.)
- jampekka 3y agoHmm.. what's the business model of HN?
- horeszko 3y agoSeems to me its to promote Y combinator and the startups going through their program to the tech crowd, and to also provide a recruitment pool for those startups. So startup promotion and talent outreach I would say, both which require an audience (HN in this case). Users get information and discussion forum, Y combinator gets an audience/talent pool. Sounds like a fair deal to me, and from what I can tell no malpractice.
- musicale 3y ago> manipulate user behavior so that they buy the stuff advertisers sell them google.com started as an ad-supported web search engine and evolved into a web-supported ad search engine. Google does have some non-advertising businesses however.
- yedava 3y agoI actually wanted to buy a Google One plan, but when I read their terms of service[1], it said that my data still is subjected to their privacy policy[2]. Which means Google can still sell my data to advertisers, even if I were to pay for the service. 1. https://one.google.com/terms-of-service https://one.google.com/terms-of-service 2. https://policies.google.com/privacy#whycollect https://policies.google.com/privacy#whycollect
- 0xcde4c3db 3y agoThis is why I don't like the old saying "if you're not paying, you're not the customer, you're the product". Paying often makes you even more of a product because now you've proven that you have money to spend.
- titzer 3y agoMy favorite is "your privacy is important to us" as the first sentence of a huge ToS that absolutely shreds your privacy. Of course privacy is important to them, it's how they make all their damn money. Don't worry, they won't expose your private data to the world. Just mine it and sell it to their buddies. As explained in as vague and general terms as legally defensible, as written by a whole team of lawyers.
- ikari_pl 3y agothat's why my favorite phrasing is "we value your privacy".