It seems that 90%+ of the online economy comes from advertising (Google/Facebook owns the majority). This basically means:

Offer a free service to the user, and derive income from advertising.

Now, I personally have an aversion to advertising. I hate watching TV ads, seeing ads in magazines, or having ‘popup ads’ or banner advertising online.

However– is advertising ‘bad’? What does ‘advertising’ even mean? Some thoughts:

Advertising

Avertir: to warn, to avert, to notify. Derived word is ‘avert’.

Thus the word ‘advertising‘ (while in modern-day terms has a negative connotation of used car salesmen), has an inert moralistic meaning.

To advertise is to notify another person of something.

When is advertising good?

When friends, family, or people I like/trust inform me about a certain piece of information (like the deal of buying eggs on discount for only 49 cents for a dozen eggs) is useful information to me. This information benefits me.

Thus perhaps advertising is good when the information actually benefits and has positive utility to the end-user.

Advertising is bad when this information annoys, frustrates, or annoys the end-user.

Can advertising be beautiful or art?

I think so. I love watching Apple ads, and I actually enjoy reading advertising for Telsa, Nike, etc. Perhaps I like this advertising because it already reflects my own personal philosophy of aesthetics.

Thus it seems advertising is effective and beneficial when it already mirrors what you already believe in, or when it augments what you already like.

What is the problem with Facebook or Instagram?

I think the biggest problem with Facebook and Instagram is that it fucks with your emotions too much. It ‘metricates’ your self-esteem based on numbers, likes, etc. It is like a dopamine crack-cocaine dispenser. Thus it seems a bit strange as a service– because it uses your social emotions to get you addicted, in order for you to view more advertising [which is actually very good and accurate], for the company [Facebook] to make money.

Now, I don’t think Facebook is an evil company. I genuinely think that Mark’s initial vision was good — to connect people online in a meaningful way. But the problem seems to have been this:

In order to scale up Facebook and earn the investors more money, it needs to become more addictive and advertising-heavy.

And technically this isn’t anyone’s fault either. It is simply the by-product of our capitalist society, and by the fact that it seems that [thus far] advertising has been one of the only effective ways to monetize a free service online.

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Does advertising empower you, or disempower you?

Now this is a practical question:

When you consume advertising, does it help and empower you, or does it distract and disempower you?

For example, I hate screens at the gym. I cannot concentrate when screens are on. This is even why when I’m at a restaurant or bar, I try to sit so I DON’T look at a screen. And even worse — these advertisements on TV are just plain dumb, irrelevant, distracting, and disempowering (they make you feel inadequate, or they stir up false desires).

Control what hits your eyes

Be extremely attentive of whatever hits your eyes. If you don’t like having irrelevant or random stuff affecting your focus or thoughts, delete it from your life.

For example, I deleted my Instagram, I stopped using Facebook, I don’t read news, I don’t watch TV, I don’t read magazines, I don’t watch tv shows or Netflix, I don’t listen to the radio and I don’t check my email on a daily basis.

Conclusion: Advertising isn’t bad; it is reality.

My answer so far is this:

Advertising is a fact of modern society. We can escape it to a certain extent (adblockers, opting out of social media services), but there will always be advertising.

My practical suggestion is to avoid all advertising as much as possible. Let the important advertising filter through to you via friends and family (word of mouth). Or allow yourself to be advertised on websites and blogs you like, or via email newsletters.

Just don’t let your attention and focus become hijacked. Value your focus and affection above everything else!

ERIC