We all hate the endless parade of blinking, shaking, bouncing, gyrating ads vying for our attention. Little did we know how bad it could get. These days, we have to actively filter content because the ads look just like the news stories and every headline is carefully crafted to collect clicks, regardless of usefulness or relevance. Complete nonsense is placed right next to legitimate news and given the same gravity and presentation. You have to wonder. Do content providers really think that such disrespecting treatment of their users is a good idea?
Is frustrating your audience a good plan? We’ll, I’m here to tell you that it is. In a way.
The upshot of the click-driven insanity being played out between ad haters and ad creators is that ordinary people are being trained to be skeptical. Every time someone is duped into clicking some over-hyped bullshit link and hates the results, they become a little more cynical and a little less trusting.
This effect could have amazing benefits over time. Huge swathes of humanity could begin demanding evidence proportionate to claims. Whole hosts of humanity’s most worthless ideas could lose their audience and slowly die.
So, keep this happy thought in the back of your mind and smile as you scroll past the garbage. The internet is training billions of people be less gullible. Maybe even you.
Heresies.org 