Comment by Jeff Ericson (jeff-ericson) on Why I Work on Ads · 2021-05-10T15:54:38.549Z · LW · GW

Nicely written and argued!

I don't have any interest in trying to change your mind. Given current options, there really isn't any other rational option. I know that privacy is an issue, but the danger is largely speculative to date.

I'm more interested in the relationship between people (sorry, 'consumers') and marketing/advertising in general.

In the beginning, somebody said, 'I think people would like to know about my product' and put up a sign or had somebody wander around telling people.  It worked, and more people began doing the same. Some people were better at it than others, and after a while the goal moved from 'telling people about my product' to 'spend more money to convince people to buy my inferior product.'

After some time these marketers and advertisers realized that 1) the product didn't really matter so much, if you spent enough money, and 2) you could actually convince people to make bad decisions - in other words, the power balance became asymmetrical. People became more cynical to protect themselves, and the advertisers became more cunning in order to continue convincing people to act against their own best interests. They began using science and focus groups to unlock behavior patterns. It was the perfect scenario - when the naive consumer fell for the trick, it was entirely the consumer's fault. And when a new product or service came along, they had no choice but to adopt these tools and practices in order to get any exposure to consumers at all. The marketing arms race was on!

The internet, in all fairness, has mediated some aspects and amplified others. We live in a time when there really is no non-commercial space. As consumers we must always be on guard, skeptical and wary.  My kids, voracious consumers of digital media that they are, believe that all media is fiction and therefore equal - Mr. Beast, CNN News, Doritos ads, the Marvel Universe, TikTok - all the same.  That opens up other vulnerabilities and breeds mistrust (one of many vectors here).

So yes, the internet is a valuable tool. And yes, advertising is a brilliant way to pay for it. My question: is it worth it? Can we ground ourselves in this context?