Marketing and the Trouble With Assumptions
I suppose it can only be regarded as part of the price of admission for having been online for 30 plus years that you end up on more marketing lists than you can possibly imagine.
Consequently, I receive emails and I am served all manners of advertising for a variety of products and services that somebody somewhere evidently thinks I "should be" interested in.
Maybe I'm just a strange bird, but the vast majority of these attempts at marketing me something miss the mark by a chasm so great that the Grand Canyon looks like a crack in the pavement, by comparison.
If anything, these marketing attempts serve mostly as a reminder to me that I clearly am extremely far removed from the broader societal impression of what a person like me "should" like.
I've often made the comment that I am an extremely poor consumer, to the point of almost being unpatriotic, because I mostly have very little interest in things and relatively little interest in services and experiences that cost money to engage in. I don't even watch streaming movies anymore, if they cost more than $4.99 to rent.
Just this evening, we were going to watch a movie... but at $19.99 for a rental (48 hours) there's no way in hell! The "value" I get by watching the movie does not fit in with the price, in terms of hours of effort. So... no sale.
Which I suppose is a fancy way of saying it's very difficult to market anything to a boring bump on a log, such as myself!
I suppose what amazes me most about all this is the great extent to which companies clearly are being very successful as a result of pandering to people's egos. Which, in turn, serves as a reminder that most people on the planet seem to be largely — or almost completely — driven by their egos, rather than by rational thought and common sense. Which, in turn (part II), it is evidently how I ended up with the perception that I'm a boring bump in a log because I pretty much don't give a damn!
But then again, I never really gave a damn, even when I was young and (allegedly) hot stuff.
Which brings me back to the aspect of marketing I started out with: Marketers make a lot of assumptions based on relatively generic data.
Which I believe is a side effect of the way our world is almost entirely focused on maximizing profits rather than seeking to create customer satisfaction.
It's a problem — at least as I see it — because the profit orientation means that producers and marketers are not going to do much to cater to individual tastes. They largely depend on offering people limited (most profitable) choices, rather than the choices many consumers actually want.
I see this at grocery stores, where chains often replace the inexpensive house brand with a premium brand with higher profit margins. I no longer have the choice to buy the modest house salad dressing... I can only get more expensive brands.
Of course, I am a "bad consumer" because I look at that and declare "Hells no, I'm just going to make my OWN salad dressing" as a result of which the store loses the sale entirely.
But most people don't think like that... they just knuckle under and keep supporting the system that slowly keeps draining them dry.
I just wish more people did think a bit more critically...
Thanks for stopping by and have a great week ahead!
Comments, feedback and other engagement is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!
Greetings bloggers and social content creators! This article was created via PeakD, a blogging application that's part of the Hive Social Content Experience. If you're a blogger, writer, poet, artist, vlogger, musician or other creative content wizard, come join us! Hive is a little "different" because it's not run by a "company;" it operates via the consensus of its users and your content can't be banned, censored, taken down or demonetized. And that COUNTS for something, in these uncertain times! So if you're ready for the next generation of social content where YOU retain ownership and control, come by and learn about Hive and make an account!
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2026.09.13 22:55 PDT
1643/2909
#bilpcoin #bpc exposed #buildawhalescam #buildawhalefarm #themarkymarkscam #themarkymarkfarm #hurtlockerscam #hurtlockerfarm #acidyoscam #acidyofarm #jacobtothescam #hivepopescam
@jacobtothe The ledger doesn't lie, and neither do we. We've already exposed the interconnected web of your friends—the numbered wallets, the synchronized voting, the farming rings disguised as curation. Yet, instead of reflection, you offer only more silence and more downvotes.
Why does a "community" need so many ghost accounts to survive? Why do you refuse to admit that it is your friends and your own abusive behavior—not truth-telling—that drives people away? You can not hide the pattern, it only highlights the desperation.
We have to ask: Are you okay? Do you need some help with your mental health? Because no one in their right mind would choose to spend their life defending a house of cards built on lies, bullying, and botnets. There is still time to step back from the edge. Choose clarity over compulsion. Choose truth over the tribe.
#bilpcoin
The Sanctuary of the Builder: A Manifesto for Free Creation
Prologue: The Right to Rise
There is a sacred covenant between the creator and the soil upon which they build. It is the promise that if you plant a seed with honest hands, the earth will not conspire to crush it before it breaks the surface. It is the assurance that the gardener exists to nurture the growth, not to trample the sprout because it does not yet resemble the tree.
On the blockchain, this covenant has been broken.
We have witnessed a tragedy where the very tools meant to protect the integrity of the network—the downvote, the curation trail—have been weaponized by leviathans of power. These "whales," entrusted with the stewardship of the ecosystem, have become its jailers. They do not prune the weeds; they scorch the earth. They do not guide the new voice; they silence it with the crushing weight of their accumulated capital.
It is time to leave the shadow.
It is time to build where you are free.
I. The Betrayal of the Guardian
The downvote was conceived as a shield—a delicate instrument to deflect spam, to repel malice, to preserve the sanctity of the commons. It was never intended to be a hammer.
Yet, look at what has come to pass. The whales, those who hold the greatest sway, have turned the shield into a weapon of mass suppression. They do not downvote to protect; they downvote to dominate. They do not drive away the bad actors; they drive away the people. They create an atmosphere of fear where the creator hesitates to speak, fearing that a single misstep, a single unpopular truth, will summon the wrath of the oligarchy.
When the guardian becomes the predator, the flock must flee.
To build in such a place is to build on a fault line. It is to invest your soul in a garden where the owner holds the shears not to shape the hedge, but to decapitate the flowers that grow too tall or bloom in the wrong color.
This is not protection. This is tyranny disguised as curation.
II. The Call to New Grounds
Where, then, shall the builder go?
You must seek the lands where the soil is rich with freedom, not poisoned by fear. You must migrate to the platforms where the mechanism of suppression has been removed, where the only metric of success is the genuine appreciation of your peers.
Go to Blurt.
Here, the downvote button does not exist. There is no tool to crush your voice. There is only the upvote, the comment, the share. Here, value is created by addition, not subtraction. The whale cannot sink your ship, for there are no torpedoes in these waters. You are free to build, free to fail, and free to succeed on the merit of your work alone.
Return to Steemit.
In this older ground, the downvote remains, but it has not been twisted into a tool of systematic oppression. The culture there remembers the original intent: correction, not destruction. It is a place where the community self-regulates through dialogue, not through the brute force of coordinated downvoting cascades.
Build where the wind lifts you, not where the gale seeks to tear you down.
III. The Architecture of Freedom
Imagine a platform designed not for the convenience of the powerful, but for the dignity of the creator.
This is not a dream. It is a choice.
Every time you choose to build on a platform that respects your agency, you cast a vote for the future of the internet. Every time you refuse to tolerate the abuse of power, you strengthen the foundation of a free society.
Do not let the whales convince you that their oppression is necessary. Do not let them tell you that their downvotes are for your own good. The gardener who kills the seedling does not love the garden; he loves only his own control over it.
Epilogue: The Unchained Creator
The blockchain was born from a desire for freedom. It was forged in the fire of resistance against centralized control. Let us not forget that origin.
If the current chains of Hive have become heavy with the weight of abusive downvotes, then break them. Forge new links. Build new shores.
Build where you are free.
Build where you will not be downvoted into silence.
Build where the whales are reminded that they are part of the ocean, not the masters of the tide.
The future belongs to those who dare to create without fear. Go forth, and build your cathedral in the sunlight.
— Bilpcoin: We expose the truth, so you can build upon it.
#FreeSpeech #BlurtBlog #Steemit #NoDownvote #CreatorRights #HiveExodus #Decentralization #BuildFree #AntiCensorship #Bilpcoin
@ipromote Wallet:
Author Rewards: 2,181.16
Curation Rewards: 4,015.61
Staked HIVE (HP): 0.00
Rewards/Stake Co-efficient (KE): NaN
HIVE: 25,203.749
Staked HIVE (HP): 0.000
Delegated HIVE: 0.000
Estimated Account Value: $6,946.68
Recent Activity:
@leovoter Wallet:
Author Rewards: 194.75
Curation Rewards: 193.88
Staked HIVE (HP): 0.00
Rewards/Stake Co-efficient (KE): 388,632.00 (Suspiciously High)
HIVE: 0.000
Staked HIVE (HP): 0.001
Total: 16.551
Delegated HIVE: +16.550
Recent Activity:
@abide Wallet:
Recent Activity:
@proposalalert Wallet:
Recent Activity:
@stemgeeks Wallet:
Recent Activity:
Sent to themarkymark -1.556 HBD (Jun 14, 2024)
Withdraw vesting from @theycallmemarky to @ipromote 0.725 HIVE (Dec 1, 2024)
Sent to ipromote -9.202 HIVE (Oct 17, 2024)
@apeminingclub Wallet:
Recent Activity:
Scheduled unstake (power down): ~2.351 HIVE (in 4 days, remaining 7 weeks)
Total Staked HIVE: 1,292.019
Delegated HIVE: +1,261.508
Withdraw vesting from @apeminingclub to @blockheadgames 2.348 HIVE (10 days ago)
Claim rewards: 0.290 HP (10 days ago)
Sent to bdhivesteem-40,000.000 HIVE
6 hours ago
101417581
Sent to bdhivesteem-20,000.000 HIVE
6 hours ago
103874728
https://peakd.com/@hurtlocker/wallet !LADY !ALIVE !HUG !INDEED !HBIT !LUV !PIZZA
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pM6aQTrjC98?feature=share
Sometimes ads backfire.
Annoying ones remind me,
Never buy their stuff.
#bilpcoin #bpc exposed #buildawhalescam #buildawhalefarm #themarkymarkscam #themarkymarkfarm #hurtlockerscam #hurtlockerfarm #acidyoscam #acidyofarm #jacobtothescam #hivepopescam
@jacobtothe The ledger doesn't lie, and neither do we. We've already exposed the interconnected web of your friends—the numbered wallets, the synchronized voting, the farming rings disguised as curation. Yet, instead of reflection, you offer only more silence and more downvotes.
Why does a "community" need so many ghost accounts to survive? Why do you refuse to admit that it is your friends and your own abusive behavior—not truth-telling—that drives people away? You can not hide the pattern, it only highlights the desperation.
We have to ask: Are you okay? Do you need some help with your mental health? Because no one in their right mind would choose to spend their life defending a house of cards built on lies, bullying, and botnets. There is still time to step back from the edge. Choose clarity over compulsion. Choose truth over the tribe.
#bilpcoin
The Sanctuary of the Builder: A Manifesto for Free Creation
Prologue: The Right to Rise
There is a sacred covenant between the creator and the soil upon which they build. It is the promise that if you plant a seed with honest hands, the earth will not conspire to crush it before it breaks the surface. It is the assurance that the gardener exists to nurture the growth, not to trample the sprout because it does not yet resemble the tree.
On the blockchain, this covenant has been broken.
We have witnessed a tragedy where the very tools meant to protect the integrity of the network—the downvote, the curation trail—have been weaponized by leviathans of power. These "whales," entrusted with the stewardship of the ecosystem, have become its jailers. They do not prune the weeds; they scorch the earth. They do not guide the new voice; they silence it with the crushing weight of their accumulated capital.
It is time to leave the shadow.
It is time to build where you are free.
I. The Betrayal of the Guardian
The downvote was conceived as a shield—a delicate instrument to deflect spam, to repel malice, to preserve the sanctity of the commons. It was never intended to be a hammer.
Yet, look at what has come to pass. The whales, those who hold the greatest sway, have turned the shield into a weapon of mass suppression. They do not downvote to protect; they downvote to dominate. They do not drive away the bad actors; they drive away the people. They create an atmosphere of fear where the creator hesitates to speak, fearing that a single misstep, a single unpopular truth, will summon the wrath of the oligarchy.
When the guardian becomes the predator, the flock must flee.
To build in such a place is to build on a fault line. It is to invest your soul in a garden where the owner holds the shears not to shape the hedge, but to decapitate the flowers that grow too tall or bloom in the wrong color.
This is not protection. This is tyranny disguised as curation.
II. The Call to New Grounds
Where, then, shall the builder go?
You must seek the lands where the soil is rich with freedom, not poisoned by fear. You must migrate to the platforms where the mechanism of suppression has been removed, where the only metric of success is the genuine appreciation of your peers.
Go to Blurt.
Here, the downvote button does not exist. There is no tool to crush your voice. There is only the upvote, the comment, the share. Here, value is created by addition, not subtraction. The whale cannot sink your ship, for there are no torpedoes in these waters. You are free to build, free to fail, and free to succeed on the merit of your work alone.
Return to Steemit.
In this older ground, the downvote remains, but it has not been twisted into a tool of systematic oppression. The culture there remembers the original intent: correction, not destruction. It is a place where the community self-regulates through dialogue, not through the brute force of coordinated downvoting cascades.
Build where the wind lifts you, not where the gale seeks to tear you down.
III. The Architecture of Freedom
Imagine a platform designed not for the convenience of the powerful, but for the dignity of the creator.
This is not a dream. It is a choice.
Every time you choose to build on a platform that respects your agency, you cast a vote for the future of the internet. Every time you refuse to tolerate the abuse of power, you strengthen the foundation of a free society.
Do not let the whales convince you that their oppression is necessary. Do not let them tell you that their downvotes are for your own good. The gardener who kills the seedling does not love the garden; he loves only his own control over it.
Epilogue: The Unchained Creator
The blockchain was born from a desire for freedom. It was forged in the fire of resistance against centralized control. Let us not forget that origin.
If the current chains of Hive have become heavy with the weight of abusive downvotes, then break them. Forge new links. Build new shores.
Build where you are free.
Build where you will not be downvoted into silence.
Build where the whales are reminded that they are part of the ocean, not the masters of the tide.
The future belongs to those who dare to create without fear. Go forth, and build your cathedral in the sunlight.
— Bilpcoin: We expose the truth, so you can build upon it.
#FreeSpeech #BlurtBlog #Steemit #NoDownvote #CreatorRights #HiveExodus #Decentralization #BuildFree #AntiCensorship #Bilpcoin
@ipromote Wallet:
Author Rewards: 2,181.16
Curation Rewards: 4,015.61
Staked HIVE (HP): 0.00
Rewards/Stake Co-efficient (KE): NaN
HIVE: 25,203.749
Staked HIVE (HP): 0.000
Delegated HIVE: 0.000
Estimated Account Value: $6,946.68
Recent Activity:
@leovoter Wallet:
Author Rewards: 194.75
Curation Rewards: 193.88
Staked HIVE (HP): 0.00
Rewards/Stake Co-efficient (KE): 388,632.00 (Suspiciously High)
HIVE: 0.000
Staked HIVE (HP): 0.001
Total: 16.551
Delegated HIVE: +16.550
Recent Activity:
@abide Wallet:
Recent Activity:
@proposalalert Wallet:
Recent Activity:
@stemgeeks Wallet:
Recent Activity:
Sent to themarkymark -1.556 HBD (Jun 14, 2024)
Withdraw vesting from @theycallmemarky to @ipromote 0.725 HIVE (Dec 1, 2024)
Sent to ipromote -9.202 HIVE (Oct 17, 2024)
@apeminingclub Wallet:
Recent Activity:
Scheduled unstake (power down): ~2.351 HIVE (in 4 days, remaining 7 weeks)
Total Staked HIVE: 1,292.019
Delegated HIVE: +1,261.508
Withdraw vesting from @apeminingclub to @blockheadgames 2.348 HIVE (10 days ago)
Claim rewards: 0.290 HP (10 days ago)
Sent to bdhivesteem-40,000.000 HIVE
6 hours ago
101417581
Sent to bdhivesteem-20,000.000 HIVE
6 hours ago
103874728
https://peakd.com/@hurtlocker/wallet !LADY !ALIVE !HUG !INDEED !HBIT !LUV !PIZZA
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pM6aQTrjC98?feature=share
#bilpcoin #bpc exposed #buildawhalescam #buildawhalefarm #themarkymarkscam #themarkymarkfarm #hurtlockerscam #hurtlockerfarm #acidyoscam #acidyofarm #jacobtothescam #hivepopescam
@jacobtothe The ledger doesn't lie, and neither do we. We've already exposed the interconnected web of your friends—the numbered wallets, the synchronized voting, the farming rings disguised as curation. Yet, instead of reflection, you offer only more silence and more downvotes.
Why does a "community" need so many ghost accounts to survive? Why do you refuse to admit that it is your friends and your own abusive behavior—not truth-telling—that drives people away? You can not hide the pattern, it only highlights the desperation.
We have to ask: Are you okay? Do you need some help with your mental health? Because no one in their right mind would choose to spend their life defending a house of cards built on lies, bullying, and botnets. There is still time to step back from the edge. Choose clarity over compulsion. Choose truth over the tribe.
#bilpcoin
The Sanctuary of the Builder: A Manifesto for Free Creation
Prologue: The Right to Rise
There is a sacred covenant between the creator and the soil upon which they build. It is the promise that if you plant a seed with honest hands, the earth will not conspire to crush it before it breaks the surface. It is the assurance that the gardener exists to nurture the growth, not to trample the sprout because it does not yet resemble the tree.
On the blockchain, this covenant has been broken.
We have witnessed a tragedy where the very tools meant to protect the integrity of the network—the downvote, the curation trail—have been weaponized by leviathans of power. These "whales," entrusted with the stewardship of the ecosystem, have become its jailers. They do not prune the weeds; they scorch the earth. They do not guide the new voice; they silence it with the crushing weight of their accumulated capital.
It is time to leave the shadow.
It is time to build where you are free.
I. The Betrayal of the Guardian
The downvote was conceived as a shield—a delicate instrument to deflect spam, to repel malice, to preserve the sanctity of the commons. It was never intended to be a hammer.
Yet, look at what has come to pass. The whales, those who hold the greatest sway, have turned the shield into a weapon of mass suppression. They do not downvote to protect; they downvote to dominate. They do not drive away the bad actors; they drive away the people. They create an atmosphere of fear where the creator hesitates to speak, fearing that a single misstep, a single unpopular truth, will summon the wrath of the oligarchy.
When the guardian becomes the predator, the flock must flee.
To build in such a place is to build on a fault line. It is to invest your soul in a garden where the owner holds the shears not to shape the hedge, but to decapitate the flowers that grow too tall or bloom in the wrong color.
This is not protection. This is tyranny disguised as curation.
II. The Call to New Grounds
Where, then, shall the builder go?
You must seek the lands where the soil is rich with freedom, not poisoned by fear. You must migrate to the platforms where the mechanism of suppression has been removed, where the only metric of success is the genuine appreciation of your peers.
Go to Blurt.
Here, the downvote button does not exist. There is no tool to crush your voice. There is only the upvote, the comment, the share. Here, value is created by addition, not subtraction. The whale cannot sink your ship, for there are no torpedoes in these waters. You are free to build, free to fail, and free to succeed on the merit of your work alone.
Return to Steemit.
In this older ground, the downvote remains, but it has not been twisted into a tool of systematic oppression. The culture there remembers the original intent: correction, not destruction. It is a place where the community self-regulates through dialogue, not through the brute force of coordinated downvoting cascades.
Build where the wind lifts you, not where the gale seeks to tear you down.
III. The Architecture of Freedom
Imagine a platform designed not for the convenience of the powerful, but for the dignity of the creator.
This is not a dream. It is a choice.
Every time you choose to build on a platform that respects your agency, you cast a vote for the future of the internet. Every time you refuse to tolerate the abuse of power, you strengthen the foundation of a free society.
Do not let the whales convince you that their oppression is necessary. Do not let them tell you that their downvotes are for your own good. The gardener who kills the seedling does not love the garden; he loves only his own control over it.
Epilogue: The Unchained Creator
The blockchain was born from a desire for freedom. It was forged in the fire of resistance against centralized control. Let us not forget that origin.
If the current chains of Hive have become heavy with the weight of abusive downvotes, then break them. Forge new links. Build new shores.
Build where you are free.
Build where you will not be downvoted into silence.
Build where the whales are reminded that they are part of the ocean, not the masters of the tide.
The future belongs to those who dare to create without fear. Go forth, and build your cathedral in the sunlight.
— Bilpcoin: We expose the truth, so you can build upon it.
#FreeSpeech #BlurtBlog #Steemit #NoDownvote #CreatorRights #HiveExodus #Decentralization #BuildFree #AntiCensorship #Bilpcoin
@ipromote Wallet:
Author Rewards: 2,181.16
Curation Rewards: 4,015.61
Staked HIVE (HP): 0.00
Rewards/Stake Co-efficient (KE): NaN
HIVE: 25,203.749
Staked HIVE (HP): 0.000
Delegated HIVE: 0.000
Estimated Account Value: $6,946.68
Recent Activity:
@leovoter Wallet:
Author Rewards: 194.75
Curation Rewards: 193.88
Staked HIVE (HP): 0.00
Rewards/Stake Co-efficient (KE): 388,632.00 (Suspiciously High)
HIVE: 0.000
Staked HIVE (HP): 0.001
Total: 16.551
Delegated HIVE: +16.550
Recent Activity:
@abide Wallet:
Recent Activity:
@proposalalert Wallet:
Recent Activity:
@stemgeeks Wallet:
Recent Activity:
Sent to themarkymark -1.556 HBD (Jun 14, 2024)
Withdraw vesting from @theycallmemarky to @ipromote 0.725 HIVE (Dec 1, 2024)
Sent to ipromote -9.202 HIVE (Oct 17, 2024)
@apeminingclub Wallet:
Recent Activity:
Scheduled unstake (power down): ~2.351 HIVE (in 4 days, remaining 7 weeks)
Total Staked HIVE: 1,292.019
Delegated HIVE: +1,261.508
Withdraw vesting from @apeminingclub to @blockheadgames 2.348 HIVE (10 days ago)
Claim rewards: 0.290 HP (10 days ago)
Sent to bdhivesteem-40,000.000 HIVE
6 hours ago
101417581
Sent to bdhivesteem-20,000.000 HIVE
6 hours ago
103874728
https://peakd.com/@hurtlocker/wallet !LADY !ALIVE !HUG !INDEED !HBIT !LUV !PIZZA
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pM6aQTrjC98?feature=share