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What's the point of adverts?

TagliatelliMonster

Veteran Member
One could argue that data collection is useful, because the algorithm gears ads toward things one might actually use.

The problem is that that is far from what it only does.
It is also used to serve you with playlists, "recommended" content, search results...

All based on what the service decides for you "what you meant" or what you will enjoy.
This creates extreme information bubbles and it becomes progressively more dificult overtime to break out of that bubble.

If you google "big bang theory", the results are going to be extremely influenced depending on which device you use. Not even considering the logins active. Just the devices. On my computer, you might get a mix of science and sitcom resources. On a creationist's phone you'll get a bunch of conspiracy sites. Etc.

In the subforum "evo vs creationism", people are sometimes told to google evolution and "read up". The problem is that the first 5 pages of results they get will NOT be science articles. They will rather be pseudo-science sites from the discovery institute, answers in genesis, etc.

This is how fake news and conspiracies propagate on cyberspace. Once your mac / ip address or user login is linked to such sources, that's where these services will push you into even deeper.

This is very very very bad.
It creates an information bubble and it achieves the exact opposite of the interwebs were supposed to be.

Then there are also the vast abuses that are possible like what Cambridge Analytica did, and what many others still do. They use these "psychological profiles" of users and even anonymous ip addresses to literally manipulate public opinion.

It is even so bad that in the case of people who use facebook extensively, they can literally be manipulated in eating what you want them to eat.
If facebook decides that you should have mac and cheese tonight... believe you me, you WILL have mac and cheese tonight. They have so much data on you that the algorithms know EXACTLY which "buttons" to press to make you "decide" to have mac and cheese tonight.

People don't believe me when I tell them that. It's true though.

This is also how you get +80 million people to blindly support a narcistic pathological liar like Trump. He would have never succeeded in that 30 years ago. He just wouldn't have. No chance.

I know the thread is about advertisement, but it's all the same thing. "social media" and big data is the wet dream of any marketing / advertisement company. And it became a reality today.

Governments, like the EU, demand the facebooks of this world to "take steps" against the spread of fake news. The truth is that they can't do it. It's an automated monster of their own creation. The only way to stop it, is to shut down the auto-algorithms. And that's their very business model. They can created a 25.000 moderator team and still they wouldn't be able to catch up. It's the data collection and the algorithms that run on it that does it all. It's unstoppable as long as it keeps running. The process itself needs to be shut down.

It all ties together. If they shut it down, their revenue from advertisement will be slashed by more then 50%.






(sorry... long posts, but once I get going on this subject.... pet peeve of mine)
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
Regarding bathing... I have to say I'm all for daily showering with soap, no advertising got me to that,
It got our parents and grandparents there and they passed it to us. It was regarded as a trait of narcissism to shower daily before people selling soap told us we stink amd have to shower so much with soap that we damage our skin.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
But that's me, and I'm not a young person trying to find my way in the world, and I wouldn't want to be young in the digital age, my entire existence subject to filters and insta poses. The potential damage from that is enormous and unfortunately, largely self-inflicted, even if unknowingly.
That we definitely agree on. Had I grown up with it and had facebook amd a cellphone and all that in high school and unable to escape I fear I would have carried out avery nasty and very deadly school massacre before killing myself as a means of escaping the that hellish existence.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
One could argue that data collection is useful, because the algorithm gears ads toward things one might actually use.

I'm typically bombarded with ASPCA ads on YouTube, for example. Not sure if it's because I donate or because of the content I watch. Probably the former because I don't see how NASCAR races and Vedanta lectures translate to the ASPCA.
More than that. Like how seeing here, on my phone, rapey anime ads and pro-Trump and pro-Evangelical and other similar garbage was being shown to me. It's nothing I've been doing or watching, and I haven't voted for Trump a first time when I was asked if I would a third time.
It motivated me to solve the ad problem on my phone and take care if it well enough I'd be oblivious to YouTube's recent change if other people weren't complaining they are getting stuck watching ads.
 

icehorse

......unaffiliated...... anti-dogmatist
Premium Member
I think it probably depends on how shallow you are.

Or maybe a male thing.
Don't kid yourself. Not all ads are designed to manipulate all people, but females are susceptible to ads and marketing and propaganda just like males are.

And don't kid yourself that you're somehow immune. The entire reason that things like google and fb exist is because their advertisers know using these websites will improve sales.

What you CAN do to fight back is just not watch or listen to ads at all. I'm VERY happy that I could pay RF to turn off ads for me. :)
 
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