One Of The Strengths Around Here

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

One Of The Strengths Around Here

 

Inadvertently, I came to the conclusion that, before too long, OL is going to grow a lot faster all on its own.

 

I realized that watching the following video by John Oliver. I have had a lot of ideas churning around in my mind recently and Oliver's video, which followed another by Luntz I saw this morning, sparked the epiphany. It deals with trust.

 

First, Oliver:

 

 

Oliver was discussing an advertising concept called "Native Advertising," which is a fancy bullshit term for ads disguised as news stories, or ads included in news stories. In Hollywood, this same concept (in a different form) has been called "product placement" for years.

 

Here is a spoof of the concept in the earth-shattering 80's horror movie, Return of the Killer Tomatoes.

 

 

Now add that to the following chat between Howard Kurtz and Frank Luntz.

 

 

Like Luntz says, "We don't watch news to inform us anymore, we watch news to affirm us." Setting aside the bullshit of blaming viewers for having vulnerabilities, thus tempting producers to be dishonest, Luntz does have a point. News stations have become quite adept at manipulating news to distort reality and cater to the core stories of target audiences.

 

So what do we have? Ads passed off as news or fiction, and opinions passed off as news.

 

All of these things work because they use covert persuasion techniques. But there's a problem when everybody starts using the same techniques. They are like magic tricks. They only work when the trickery is not perceived.

 

Once people know what is going on with covert persuasion, the hidden message loses its effectiveness, some people get royally pissed off and they sound off. And they keep sounding off, over and over and louder and louder. With these voices rising up, most of the public simply says screw it. Nobody in the media is honest.

 

When that happens, an unfed hunger is created. Lots of people hunger for rest (literal catch-your-breath rest) and objectivity amidst the constant barrage of manipulation techniques that attack them every waking hour.

 

That's where OL comes in. (Of course, this site is not the only one committed to being non-manipulative so folks can say what's on their minds from a place of the best within them.)

 

I study advertising and marketing, so I am not so naive to suggest the dark arts in covert persuasion were not part of the marketing toolkit in previous times. But the recent spike in using this stuff has been exponential. Everywhere you turn, some message or design purposely created by someone according to specific covert persuasion techniques is inserting itself in your unconscious to trick you and nudge you in a direction determined by said person. 

 

We do a little bit of advertising here on OL, but it is openly displayed as advertising (probably one of the reasons the returns are so paltry, but I won't bitch ). That's about the extent of it.

 

Everything else is discussion and information provided by people who actually believe what they say and are not lying to others to manipulate them. This is a value that was purposely cultivated on OL.

 

I'm proud of the result. I'm proud of you people here.

 

Get ready, though.

 

With the shenanigans happening out there in the mainstream, I expect a lot more folks to show up here seeking exactly what we have.

 

I actually hope I am wrong because I like things as they are.

 

Michael

[dldelancey]

Is your fear that the people showing up seeking what we have will not be willing or able to contribute in a positive way?

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Deanna,

It's not fear.

It's the time involved--not with the good members. With the trolls and agenda-driven preachers seeking disciples and power. A few of them are a pain in the ass. More of them is more pain in the ass.

Later I'm going to have moderators and all that, but when a budget comes in.

Right now we are doing really good for no promotion whatsoever. And like I said in the OP, we will probably get an influx pretty soon.

But my attitude is positive regardless. If the surge doesn't happen, good. If it does happen, good.

In the latter case, I'll just deal with it (actually, we'll all deal with it), so it's all good.

Michael

[syrakusos]

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[PDS]

Well said, Mr. Marotta.

Also, the Atlanta Braves need more relief pitching for a playoff run this year.

FYI.

[Selene]

Also, the Atlanta Braves need more relief pitching for a playoff run this year.

Yep...now let's get back to the issue

[syrakusos]

technical problems... stand by ...