We’re All Made of Stars

Remember when movies and television shows used to show quotes from magazine and newspaper reviews? Those little tidbits were used to sell the products to people on the fence. Better movies and shows had more, better quotes. It was a simple system that allowed the viewers to make quick decisions on whether or not they wanted to pay attention, or even look into watching. That system is officially broken.

Today, we have those same commercials running, but they no longer provide snippets from reviews. Instead, they run quotes from twitter, made from anyone and everyone they could find. A flood of quotes can and will dominate the entire screen for anything that chooses to do it. Every product, show, movie, and what-have-you will be able to make itself look like the next grand slam since sliced bread. The truth is, no matter how bad something is, it can find enough good comments about it on twitter to make it shine like polished gold.

There is something to be said about user input. It allows us to connect and share our opinions on matters. This is something that is good. When that good is taken, and twisted in such a way to sell a product aggressively, it becomes something very bad.  Keep your guard up, because that devil on your shoulder has a new ally.