zlacker

>>ksec+(OP)
I’ve wondered recently if we’re going to see in the next 10 or 20 years a split generation of people who are susceptible to ads. I heard anecdotally someone talking about his kids who weren’t exposed to ads much because they (as a family) buy the ad free experiences - when they did see an ad, it was extremely effective and they were explaining to their father how much they needed this thing.

Alternatively, are the poorer kids going to be the ones inoculated against advertising because they are exposed to it constantly?

>>sircas+0j
Do you really think it works that way? People might develop banner blindness, but subconsciously they are being bombarded with messages anyway. They are being trained to consume, to associate the sites they like to visit with certain brands, pushed products by influencers...

If ads didn't work, companies wouldn't be paying billions of dollars per year. The only way to fight it is by being vigilant and block them at the source and become truly allergic to them.

>>rglull+Tk
In a way, becoming allergic to the ads is the cure -- you need to immediately recognize the toxicity that stems from the emotional (rather than logical) appeals and the manipulative tactics companies use to undermine your own happiness and convince you to buy their products.

At this point I can't even go to a sports bar for a drink because being bombarded by that many ads is a legitimately stressful experience. If I'm visiting a family member who leaves the TV on in their living room, I ask if we can turn it off -- or mute it and leave the room. But I don't view these as problems: I'm recognizing a negative thing in my reality and trying to cut it out. I imagine it like a bug problem: I won't go to a bar where cockroaches are crawling all over the walls, or hang out in a room where a bunch of cockroaches are nesting in the corner. Ads are the same thing, but you have to be much vigilant to keep them out of your life because so many people have gotten used to them.

I hope folks start educating their kids at an early age to loathe ads. Middle schools and high schools ought to dissect ads in a dedicated (health?) class that showcases the manipulation tactics companies use to control viewers. But parents can do the same thing, knowing that school systems take literal centuries to adapt to new technology.