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If you're not advertising how are people going to know that you have something that would be useful to them in exchange for money? I don't see it as a virus, t
by autonomousErwin 2y ago
If you're not advertising how are people going to know that you have something that would be useful to them in exchange for money?
I don't see it as a virus, the real virus is poor products where the balance of marketing outweighs engineering.
- KTibow 2y agoWhat do you think of word of mouth?
- makk 2y agoNot sure. Tell me about it.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y agoA firmly accelerationist take. The Internet of the early 2000s was a whale fall where you could get sometimes useful information for free Soon we'll be back to only trusting friends and assuming everyone else wants to sell us something
- kelnos 2y agoI think people like me (and the GP) and you have a fundamental difference of opinion not just about ads, but about the foundations of life in society. Maybe even about capitalism itself, but that's probably a discussion for another day. > If you're not advertising how are people going to know that you have something that would be useful to them in exchange for money? Who cares? Why is that an important thing that must exist in the world? Why must I need to know about everything that could be useful to me (if I'd only pay for it)? Let's turn this on its head instead. I'm a person who does things. I might be doing some of those things sub-optimally, perhaps because there's a product out there that I don't know about that could help me do them faster, easier, more efficiently, all that. But if I care enough, if I'm actually bothered with how any of these things I do are working out (or even if I'm not bothered, but I'm just enthusiastic enough to want to learn), then I can actively search for ways to make it better. That doesn't require advertising. In fact, advertising makes it harder, because I could easily be fooled by some slick advertising into buying a product that it turns out isn't actually the best for me (or, worse, isn't actually better than what I'm doing now). The most honest of advertisers (if that's not an oxymoron) will do their best to make a sale by telling you only the truth about what their great product can do for you. But most advertisers are, well... not that. They'll embellish, they'll leave out important (but potentially negative) information, and sometimes they'll outright lie (and claim they're just being aspirational). And even the most honest of advertisers will lie by omission: they're going to paint their product in the best light, and leave out the negatives. Ads are a form of psychological manipulation. I don't want that in my life.
- drawkward 2y agoCouldn't have said it better myself.
- BoorishBears 2y agoIronic because it's essentially a diatribe prescribing organic advertising. Maybe if this person actually knew what advertising was (not some strawman built around deception) the argument might track a little better.
- spacebacon 2y agoAdvertising is just another sign system. Most sign systems use and or manipulate environments. You just used a digital forum to advertise your opinion.