You read sensational articles on the internet. You come across news that glorifies places and people beyond belief. We consume all this content assuming only the best gets covered. If it’s not out there, then probably it’s not worth mentioning. We are hounded and sucked into this vortex of vast information- info that is backed by money.
Have you come across articles in papers that talk about health practices/procedures with benefits? They talk about various steps of treatment to undergo with a detailed and friendly approach to the procedure. It’s kind of off-putting when you get to the end of it. It seems like general information, but towards the end, you see tiny details of a clinic/doctor who performs the said procedures. What looked like information was pure promotional material.
Let us talk about travel articles that we have come across. Disguised as general information, you may believe that the places spoken about in those articles are part of awareness. It seems like they are written to educate us about geographical destinations. They talk about fun activities to do in those places. They list out famous spots to visit and foods that can be savoured. They glorify everything good that can happen there (not a single flaw). It’s interesting to read them. You believe it to be an informational piece, and it subconsciously causes a desire in us, the readers. A feeling of aspiration to visit in the future builds within us. Bingo! That was the exact aim of the article. To stir such feelings. The article was thus a promotional material for tourism. They were obviously sponsored by the state,country or travel agents. A distorted agenda.
I don’t really need to mention celebrity acts. I mean, that’s got ‘promotion’ written all over. Any product or service they talk about has hidden agendas. They do it either to get paid or as a mutual favour with a prospective client. And, if you read articles on celebrities that do not mention any product or service, instead, they talk about what they are doing or how they are, no doubt, it’s a way of creating buzz for their upcoming project. It’s hidden in plain sight. I’ve even come across promotions via book reviews. A celebrity author writes a fantastic review for a children’s book that was not quite heard of. Turns out, that book was adapted to a tv show, and all he did was a subtle promotion, months in advance. He was professionally associated with the show’s production house. So, a win-win.
Let’s look at survey studies. There seems to be a study on everything on this planet. If it’s related to health such as waking up on your left side, standing funny, looking wonky- there are studies for all and they all want to route you to a certain health correction. If it’s a bigger picture such as surveys on safe cities, happy cities, blah, blah – it’s to build a desired perception along with loathing. Studies also say that I shouldn’t crib on blogs but I will.
Now before you think, ‘Oh, come on blogger, the world works on money. What’s your problem?’ I mean, sure, it does but isn’t it a teeny bit exhausting when you realize most of the content you see is to either influence you to think in a certain way or make you buy a certain something. Is there anything where money is not hidden beneath all this propaganda? Imagine if there was a ‘skip ad’ section on anything you read. You’ll probably have no content to consume.
