Death to Bullshit

#1

Post by spking » Sun, Sep 06, 2015, 5:01 PM UTC

Death to Bullshit
deathtobullshit.com

Re: Death to Bullshit

#2

Post by Encosia » Sun, Sep 06, 2015, 5:47 PM UTC

Be sure to click the "Turn bullshit on?" link at the top-right for a chuckle.

Re: Death to Bullshit

#3

Post by Retr0spectrum » Sun, Sep 06, 2015, 5:51 PM UTC

Reminds me of this site: http://bettermotherfuckingwebsite.com/

Re: Death to Bullshit

#4

Post by SandB0x » Sun, Sep 06, 2015, 5:51 PM UTC

Now this is cheap populism I can get behind!

Re: Death to Bullshit

#5

Post by halotrope » Sun, Sep 06, 2015, 5:52 PM UTC

Encosia wrote: post #2

Be sure to click the "Turn bullshit on?" link at the top-right for a chuckle.

Well he totally forgot to fluff the actual content. Instead of just framing it differently.

Re: Death to Bullshit

#6

Post by xd1936 » Sun, Sep 06, 2015, 5:53 PM UTC

This is great. Reminds me of Jon Stewart's speech that he gave on his last show.

Video and transcription: http://leoherzog.com/jon-stewarts-incredible-bullsht-speech

Re: Death to Bullshit

#7

Post by Retr0spectrum » Sun, Sep 06, 2015, 5:54 PM UTC

Encosia wrote: post #2

Be sure to click the "Turn bullshit on?" link at the top-right for a chuckle.

And the feedback form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QAbZ0qm1Q3SwT3Ane2ZLi7I_cjA...

Re: Death to Bullshit

#8

Post by mojuba » Sun, Sep 06, 2015, 5:58 PM UTC

Can't say how effective this campaign can be, but I'm glad QR codes are now officially included in the list of bullshit. Can't agree more.

Re: Death to Bullshit

#9

Post by afarrell » Sun, Sep 06, 2015, 6:02 PM UTC

This page talks mostly about interface bullshit, but people are also tired of content bullshit. To paraphrase from Harry Frankfurt, this is content produced not to conceal truth, but without regard for for it whatsoever. If to lie is to murder truth, to bullshit is to manslaughter it.

Producing bullshit is more profitable because it still attracts eyeballs (and therefore ad revenue), but is much less costly to produce. Thats why the presence of large amounts of ads, needless pagination, and interface bullshit are a reasonable indicator of content bullshit.

Re: Death to Bullshit

#10

Post by shostack » Sun, Sep 06, 2015, 6:11 PM UTC

As much as I dislike some of the current trends (and I do digital media for a living mind you), I do have to point out that this stuff wouldn't be done if it didn't work.

Ultimately this implies that there are enough people out there who engage with or...dare I say...want...the bullshit, that their collective voice outweighs those that do not simply by the fact that those are often the users who click ads, share things, and otherwise generate more value and revenue for the publishers than those that do not.

While the arms race to fight this stuff is commendable (I myself run at least NoScript at home and it is beautiful), I can't help but think the only way to win is to not play.

By that I mean coming up with revenue alternatives for publishers that not only generate more revenue than this approach, but also provide a direct incentive to not use these things.

If such magical solution existed, they would switch of their own volition. Instead, they focus their efforts and dollars (and by extension the focus of an entire industry that has been built on those dollars) on adding more items to the list of bullshit.