TikTok: surveillance questions aside, we should ask how communist China might benefit from an AI engine that deranges and polarizes our society.
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Asks Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, first outside investor in Facebook. It’s a question embedded deep inside this article he wrote for The Criterion about the diversity myth.
I think it's a good question. Especially now that AI use has hit the "rest of the world".
It's a question I've asked since TikTok first came on the scene and the surveillance issues first appeared.
It's a question I've gotten horrible answers to.
Answers that range from pure self-centered selfish thinking to astounding ignorance.
Answers like:
my privacy isn't an issue because I have nothing to hide
it's fun! I really don't care
I turned off my location so it doesn't matter
I'm not that important
it's harmless short videos!
they're lying - it doesn't record my private info
so what? my data is just a small blip in the grand scheme of things
It's a question many aren't willing to answer.
Either because they lack the awareness level necessary to understand how compiled data gives insight into a population's weaknesses or they lack self-awareness and believe their actions have little to no impact on others.
It's one of those serious questions that requires us to look at our own actions and make the conscious choice of Our Wants or Society's Health.
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Marketing Tip
Add direct mail to your marketing mix.
Direct mail is not dead.
Digital marketers will scoff at this. Because digital marketing is cheap, right? Email marketing costs almost nothing. Ad costs can be miniscule.
Those who understand that marketing is more than an advertisement should sit up and take notice.
Even Neil Patel, renowned online traffic expert, says "...direct mail gives you more bang for your buck than paid search and online display ads...Direct mail has a median ROI of 29%, putting the ROI in third behind email and social media marketing in terms of ROI. Social media is ahead by only 1 percentage point." Direct Mail Effectiveness blog post
It's data driven. It can be personalized. It can tie to your online efforts. It is tangible. In newsletter format it is always read by the recipient. Because it's physical and real and if written correctly it feels like reading articles.
Where to start? With your own customer list. Send them a physical postcard tied to your landing page or social media page.
I'm toying with the idea to offer a Custom Newsletters Service --- online and printed --- suitable for any business. It will include general/fun/informative ghostwritten articles and 1 or 2 company or niche specific articles for your business. If this interests you, let's have a coffee chat: Coffee with Charlene
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From the Research Files
aka random bits of info you may or may not be able to use in your life
Ever wonder why Mr. T is called that? He first acquired the moniker (a shortening of his real name Lawrence Tureaud) in backlash for the once common practice of calling a black man "boy."
Said Mr. T, "I think about my father being called ‘boy’, my uncle being called ‘boy’, my brother, coming back from Vietnam and being called ‘boy’... So when I was 18 years old, when I was old enough to fight and die for my country, old enough to drink, old enough to vote, I said I was old enough to be called a man. I self-ordained myself Mr. T so the first word out of everybody’s mouth is Mr."
He once served in the Army. He enlisted in 1975 and did so well in basic training that he was named the top trainee out of about 6,000 recruits.
“Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work.” Adrienne Rich
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