A myriad of Qyriad

@Qyriad

she (singular) / they (plural)
pronouns.cc/@Qyriad

Mikaela, Lily, Violet, and Ciri — a plural collective of nerdy, quoiromantic, poly, lesbian computer engineers and leftists.

Current media obsessions: Persona 5, RWBY, Cosmere

A myriad of Qyriad @Qyriad12/16/2022, 2:14 AM

eevee @lexyeevee

eevee @lexyeevee12/15/2022, 6:30 AM

"if you're not paying for it, you're not the customer, you're the product"

as someone who releases free stuff with no strings attached: can we stop saying this?? please??? are we listening to ourselves???

it makes no distinction between for-profit corporate endeavors and anyone else, and it implies that paid services won't double-dip by sucking you dry for Data too which is a complete fantasy. who even came up with this, microsoft? did the original formulation end with "...so you might as well pay for office 365"?

A myriad of Qyriad @Qyriad12/16/2022, 2:14 AM

I kind of wonder if this problem comes from capitalism assuming that people Simply Don't do things for truly free, since capitalism slowly but actively attempts to destroy the ability to do that

#capitalism #politics #Qyriad #eevee

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in reply to @lexyeevee's post:

An Adorable Sergal @adorablesergal12/15/2022, 6:44 AM

I figured people had enough sense to have at least a modicum of class solidarity when it comes to these statements, but the past decade of online life has taught me some mf'rs need the explicit clarification, and sometimes even then it's not enough. :(

\phi @phi12/15/2022, 6:47 AM

I first started hearing this a couple years ago in teh context of influencers talking about how their following was teh product they "sold" to get sponsorships, but I feel it escaped its original context a lil bit, hehe.

Chamomile🐑@chamomile12/15/2022, 6:49 AM

I mean, there's an implicit asterisk that this applies to products that are made for profit. If people are using this to imply that volunteer-run FOSS software is selling your data behind your back... I haven't seen it.

eevee @lexyeevee12/15/2022, 6:53 AM

that is a mighty big asterisk to leave implied! especially when including it almost makes the whole thing tautological? as if people don't already know advertisers are paying for access to them

i don't know it feels like something said to be automatically ominous but it contains very little real meaning, and what little is there is painted with too broad a brush anyway

noa @coolreader1812/15/2022, 6:59 AM

I mean I think there's definitely laypeople who don't realize the extent to which free for-profit services/apps make money off them and their data; that's why there's been more about that in main-stream media (from my perspective at least)

Chamomile🐑@chamomile12/15/2022, 7:02 AM

Well, that's actually why I happen to not like the phrase myself! It's reductive to the point of being almost meaningless - a great way for the person saying it to seem Very Smart without actually saying all that much. But at least in my experience, it's almost universally used in the context of for-profit services, where it's understood that yes, it's because your data and your eyeballs are being sold to advertisers.

David @hllizi12/15/2022, 8:54 PM

I wouldn't dismiss tautological statements too lightly, though. Claiming that life on earth is governed by "survival of the fittest" is completely tautological once you specify "fit" in the only sensible way as "fit to survive", and still it opened up a whole new world of insight.

And I guess not thinking too deeply about how profit is being made is actually very common.

Talen Lee @TalenLee12/15/2022, 6:52 AM

it's a quote from 1973 and it was about television. Like most things to do with television and 1973, it's not very applicable any more.

eevee @lexyeevee12/15/2022, 7:15 AM

oh my fricking god

Plasma Ring @ring12/15/2022, 7:44 AM

it seems like one of those things that made sense as a memorable way to explain the behavior of specific big companies under specific circumstances, but the instant these phrases succeed at having their intended impact they become almost obligatory responses to any situation that's even remotely similar.

@Ongion12/15/2022, 1:53 PM

Absolutely not the point, but its 'microsoft 365' now for some reason.

Feral Teef @athy12/15/2022, 8:31 PM

"You're the product" dates back to the seventies and was intended to help people understand that their attention is a scarce resource that is being exploited, and that we should be more aware of who is asking for it and why. It is more true today than ever. Right now, most encounters people have with Free (beer/freedom) Things will be through some commercial use, and will be invisible. This isn't necessarily wrong or exploitative, but sometimes there is a business interest in avoiding having customers contemplate those relationships, and the set of people you're complaining about intersects with them.

It doesn't have the nuance you're looking for but it's an extremely effective and highly accurate slogan, for now. So the price to pay is finding the energy to deal with misdirected skepticism from people confronted with the idea and thinking critically for once. Worth it to me.

Stephen @stephen-fox12/16/2022, 4:55 AM

I think I first heard it relating to broadcast television, on how ad funded channels don't actually care about serving viewers programming beyond their ability to sell those viewers' eyeballs to advertisers.

Essentially it's always been marketing for using paid services over free, commercial, services, but I don't think the tech sector invented it.