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Internal Facebook Note: Here Is A “Psychological Trick” To Target Teens

buzzfeednews.com

71–80 of 83 posts

Re: Internal Facebook Note: Here Is A “Psychological Trick” To Target Teens

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've only seen such drugs ads in the US. Most other countries seem to realize that watching a 30 second ad is unlikely to make you more informed than a MD or PharmD.

It's not about being informed, it's - like all marketing - about being misinformed. And in this case, the intended effect is that the patient will pressure the doctor to prescribe them the drug they've seen on TV.

I don't think prescription drug advertisements are a good thing, but it seems to me the real problem is doctors that allow themselves to be pressured.

Re: Internal Facebook Note: Here Is A “Psychological Trick” To Target Teens

#72
post #63

It always amazes me how long Buzzfeed can hold off the actual content of the article with useless banter without seemingly losing readers. The title mentions 'a psychological trick', but delays the actual explanation of the 'trick' until the very end of the article.

As someone said above, the title of the article is a psychological trick itself.

Re: Internal Facebook Note: Here Is A “Psychological Trick” To Target Teens

#74
post #22
post #9

That One Weird Trick: > We eventually identified a psychological trick: > 1. Set the app’s Instagram profile to Private. > 2. Set the bio to something mysterious, e.g., “You’ve been invited to the new RHS app—stay tuned!” > 3. Follow the targeted users. > 4. Wait 24 hours to receive the inbound Follow Requests. (They were curious about our profile so they requested access) > 5. At 4:00PM when school gets out (The Gol…

Students hate them!

* Teachers hate them!

Re: Internal Facebook Note: Here Is A “Psychological Trick” To Target Teens

#75
post #38

This seems fairly benign. What's giving it the coverage and negative feedback here is the fact that somebody call it a 'psychological trick'. Is an ice cream truck playing music and slowing rolling down your street on a hot summer day also a psychological trick we need to guard against? Accounting for human congregations and 'appealing to their curiosity' is a part of the human existence. Downloading junk is also a l…

> Downloading junk is also a life lesson, they will learn. Mega-corporation - with deep pockets, professional advice, etc - stalks teenagers and does targeted personalized campaign, it is teenagers fault to fall for it... I see a "blame the victim" attitude here. > Is an ice cream truck playing music and slowing rolling down your street on a hot summer day also a psychological trick we need to guard against? The truc…

> Is an ice cream truck playing music and slowing rolling down your street on a hot summer day also a psychological trick we need to guard against?

Sure, but even something like ice cream truck music is regulated: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...

Re: Internal Facebook Note: Here Is A “Psychological Trick” To Target Teens

#76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But when will they learn? What if it's too late for them to claim their attention span back, as they go down the spiral of useless junk/social media? And what about the people who never learn - is it their fault? I suppose if kids/people learn to treat personalized (and well-timed) social media invitations like I treat 3/4ths of the emails I receive, it's not terrible, just more of the same, but at worst, those indiv…

If you want to criticize the entire field of neuromarketing, fine - it's an interesting discussion to have. But I agree with parent commenter in that let's not pretend Facebook is doing anything unique and/or the only ones doing this type of stuff.

Pretending you're related to a school you're not affiliated with isn't neuromarketing, it's just lying to kids. Using big words for that doesn't make it bigger, and that it's not "unique" from the perspective of people who pull this kind of stuff is also not surprising.

When you find a bug, do you fix the bug, or do you go "ohh, but this isn't the first time anything ever had a bug"? When someone flashes you in the park, do you call the cops or do you say "it's hardly unique for this person to be doing this"?

The article is kinda meh, there really isn't anything to discuss, but that doesn't make lying to kids to push another product noble or interesting. I'd sooner interested in the upbringing of the people who enter that "field" than their own rationalizations. I've seen enough to know there's a problem behind the chaff.

Re: Internal Facebook Note: Here Is A “Psychological Trick” To Target Teens

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You stop being a minor at 18 for legal purposes, but there are still random restrictions on what you can do (like drinking or buying handguns) until 21. It makes about as much sense as it sounds like.

Yeah, at 18 you don't have enough sense to drink alcohol responsibly, but you are allowed to vote. This shows how little this country thinks of voting.

I think it has to do with 18 also being the age you can be drafted and sent to war. Theoretically, it keeps the politicians who send people to war answerable to those people.

It's also worth noting that until recently the drinking age varied from state to state. I grew up in New York and it was 19.

The uniform 21 age didn't come about until pressure groups like MADD went after the politicians. I believe that the feds ended up tying a 21 mandate to highway funding. (The same trick that's used to keep the public schools in line.)

And since we're on driving, the driving age varies from state to state, as well. It's as low as 16 in South Dakota. Most states it's 18, but lowered in "hardship" cases, like farm families where the kids might need to drive a tractor across a public road to get from field to field.

In South Dakota you can get a permit at 14.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver%27s_licenses_in_the_Uni...

Re: Internal Facebook Note: Here Is A “Psychological Trick” To Target Teens

#78
post #38

This seems fairly benign. What's giving it the coverage and negative feedback here is the fact that somebody call it a 'psychological trick'. Is an ice cream truck playing music and slowing rolling down your street on a hot summer day also a psychological trick we need to guard against? Accounting for human congregations and 'appealing to their curiosity' is a part of the human existence. Downloading junk is also a l…

> Downloading junk is also a life lesson, they will learn. Mega-corporation - with deep pockets, professional advice, etc - stalks teenagers and does targeted personalized campaign, it is teenagers fault to fall for it... I see a "blame the victim" attitude here. > Is an ice cream truck playing music and slowing rolling down your street on a hot summer day also a psychological trick we need to guard against? The truc…

what is it with the mindset that the really important thing is pointing fingers in a morally correct fashion? is there any problem that’s ever solved?

Re: Internal Facebook Note: Here Is A “Psychological Trick” To Target Teens

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the case for "billion-dollar companies using neuroscience to manipulate the behavior of individuals is a moral and societal good"? Neuromarketing seems pretty straightforwardly evil to me...

Prescription drug ads do far more social harm. "This shit will fuck you up six ways from Sunday but we make a ton of money off of it so ask your doctor..."

In most cases I might agree with you - but as a counterpoint I would posit a huge problem among the medical community: patient compliance with treatment. Sometimes health outcomes have nothing to do with the treatment itself, but rather the patient(s) are not likely to adhere strictly to the recommendations. [Source: my graduate school advisor was a health economist - but I'm sure there are studies out there to validate this.]

Something to keep in mind: not all drugs are bad. And even those that get a historical bad rap are ok in _moderation_ - some drugs are very helpful and necessary for certain conditions.

If drug ads and/or neuromarketing can improve patient outcomes by improving the likelihood that a patient complies with treatment, then is that all that bad?

Re: Internal Facebook Note: Here Is A “Psychological Trick” To Target Teens

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, at 18 you don't have enough sense to drink alcohol responsibly, but you are allowed to vote. This shows how little this country thinks of voting.

I think it has to do with 18 also being the age you can be drafted and sent to war. Theoretically, it keeps the politicians who send people to war answerable to those people. It's also worth noting that until recently the drinking age varied from state to state. I grew up in New York and it was 19. The uniform 21 age didn't come about until pressure groups like MADD went after the politicians. I believe that the feds…

Most states allow driving by yourself without an adult at 16, but usually have some sort of restriction like curfew until 18: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver%27s_licenses_in_the_Uni...
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