COLLINS: Social media is now a bigger threat than ever
-
Share on Facebook
-
Share on Bluesky
-
Share on X
- Copy Link
THOSE DESIGNING SOCIAL MEDIA become more and more a source of our daily information — often very sketchy, often an outright lie — but the general public seems to pay less attention to the truth in the writing than the glaring headlines, which are only intended to grab enough interest hopefully to read the entire story.
Because our attention span is so bad, those creative people who design these ads put them together in such a way that they’re shown in three parts, so you see part of the story. Then you scroll through the first section of the ad, back to part two of the story, part two of the ad, until it’s done. I’m sure these experts have done all the research and can explain how this attracts viewers. Not my way of doing things but I was around when television started, so I grew up in the time when you saw an ad all the way through and then another and another. It’s a whole new style, and while I find it not my favorite style, if it works, it works.
Then there are the ads that get you all worked up about potential miracle cures. These are the ones that deal with your hearing, the parasites that are eating you alive, the cures for your joint pains, your vision, the seven-second trick that improves your libido, or the new lure that catches all the big fish you’ll ever want to catch with your new fish finder. The ads all start off with an announcer who tells you about how Dr. So-and-So put all this effort into developing this product but in order to get the real goods you have to watch a short video. And you need to watch it right now, before pressure from the big industrial companies get it pulled from the air. And finally, here it comes — the price, along with the warning that there’s a very limited supply and you better act this second or you’ll lose out.
Finally, private channels on platforms like YouTube can be a real problem if not checked out in advance. Often, the channels are rented and the sponsor has a good chance to get their message out.
