As I was blogging and doing a few other things for other classes. I came across a multitude of ad's. Don't you hate those ad's that say "
YOU ARE A WINNER?" Free IPOD! One gets happy and clicks it thinking it is actually true? Well many of us nowadays have become immune to this! We know not to click this! As for me well......I learned the hard way! My 30 second moment of happiness turned into 2 weeks on unhappiness when struck with a virus!
However, after reading points made by Lanier and our class discussion. The point that struck the most to me in Lanier's work was the use of ads. I thought deeper about the use of ads and how it influences us. Technology has actually allowed for corporations to become even more invested in our personal life. Even though one doesn't voluntarily give away information about the personal things we like, corporations buy information from the sites you visit in order to get a better idea of what you like. They will do anything to make a profit. Once they know of a particular interest you may have, they will bombard you with ad's that may show you certain interest they think you may have. If one shows to like a certain artist you will get emails about their upcoming concerts and etc. If you like a certain kind of brand. You will get hundreds of emails about sales even around your area! YouTube is a perfect example. One searches a song that one likes and on the side of YouTube there will be tons of suggestions for artists like the one you like or ad's that spark a particular interest corporations think you may like due to your searches. I found it very hard to go on websites without in a way coming across another ad!
I found this to be a very interesting point made by Lanier. One is bombarded by ads sometimes even making it harder to resist shopping online! Yes I am a victim! However, im still unsure if ads are a positive aspect of the Internet or a negative one. In a way ads help keep web pages alive and may actually give us some valuable useful information. Other times it can just be an annoying way to get people to spend their money! However, how would the Internet work without ads? Would it become harder for companies to make money? In what ways do ads influence you personally?
A capitalist thinker will argue that in order to expand their company or make more profits, they need to reach to the billions of internet users. We can see how facebook in a blink of an eye became a $50 billion company. It is a new capitalist system that many think its annoying because of the freedom to do anything and put anything you want there. At least this is not North Korea or China where the government controls what you see or publish on the internet.
ReplyDeleteMy only critique would be sure to distinguish official advertisements, and other organizations appearing as such. Example: that is not an official Apple ad. That is some third-party website who's begging for your visit, so they use the popularity and appeal of Apple to get you there.
ReplyDeleteA good example of your argument is Facebook. All of the ads on the right hand of your window are all based on the demographic you're apart of and the interests you've selected.