The problem with advertising is not that you waste half your money but that you don’t know which half.
The transition from “open loop” to “closed loop” media driven by clickbait-seeking stimuli in a cybernetic tsunami has lead to very unfortunate consequences.
In their analysis “Why Can’t AI Fix Social Media”, Chapter 6 of “AI Snake Oil” ISBN 9768-0-691-24914-8, Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor point out that the foul stench emanating from the social media sewer is not a technological problem but an existential problem.
The purpose of social media is to stink just enough to capture our attention but not too much to turn us away.
One is reminded of the quotation: “Taxation is the art of plucking the goose without making it squeal.”
It appears that the lesson learnt by the powers that be over the last twenty years of the clickbait curse is that the stench of fear is the stink most usefully deployed by the Skinner Box engine to pull in the cash.
It worked with Covid and now it seems that Frat Boy psychopaths in search of a quick buck are more than happy to parade their scary monsters before the cowering populace.
Nosegay anyone?
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