This technique of intentionally utilizing fear is the final-form marketing & programming tactic of the information age.
It’s entropy playing out and these tech4@gs solved the endgame.
The pendulum will swing back, but maybe not for a fear years, and at a basic level it will come from ‘decentralization’ and the ‘intelligence age’
In the past, one could argue the Information age began at radio/tv.
The reason your boomer grandparents are completely disconnected from reality is because they were fed ideas their entire lives through just a couple mediums which were obviously tightly controlled.
They could not seek information independently. So subtlety was adequate for programming.
This is why they are so confidently wrong and stubborn on just about everything on how the world works.
It is not a result of this trite idea that ‘younger generation always think the uncs are out of touch’
They are actually out of touch - bc they were spoonfed unknowingly,
but as a result led easy lives as the playing field was far more even and is why the most retarded boomer you know retired a millionaire w zero understanding of why they got there.
As TV evolved, marketing via commercials became the defacto funnel for corporations for the same reasons - just get things in your face, they know youre watching.
Internet marketing introduced a skill-gap as attention was spread, sharper messaging was rewarded.
Social media introduced a new category - at its core, it’s an emotion factory.
Scrolling is addicting because it oscillates your emotional state. Algorithms these days are based on: ‘show 2 things that invoke rage, 1 thing interesting, 1 thing wholesome, repeat’
Emotions as a means of holding attention is an ancient concept.
But the degree to which it’s accepted is much higher when you log in to a website for the sole purpose of causing emotional swings.
Thiel would not say he wants to dominate the world or wtv during a Super Bowl commercial. Dario would not say he’s ‘lost control of the model’ or wtv BS he pumps out either.
But on social media this happens be okay, and the PR needs to become more and more extreme to capture the mind.
Subtlety is not only insufficient here, but is harmful to a brand, as people make a subconscious note to care less when their emotional state stays flat.
Purposeful invocation of fear is just the natural endgame of guerrilla marketing on regular social media.
This will go out of style soon. Most don’t seem to understand it’s 100% a grift and it’s been perfected.
AI will lead to a far more value-driven approach.
There will be a new form of marketing we don’t know of yet, that forms as the AI slowly replaces the computer, and I believe it will feel authentic.
TIL that Sam Altman has a pact with Peter Thiel in the event of social collapse: they will fly to Thiel’s 477‑acre compound in New Zealand. Funny how the guys engineering the “future of humanity” are always the first ones mapping their exit plans.
Make of that what you will.