In this tactic, Ryan Holiday uses the example of two different sets of Detroit photographs. The photographs that were viewed, clicked, and shared the most didn’t have people in them. They were photographs of old, abandoned, run-down buildings and houses. In the other set of photographs, there were people in the shot who were homeless or looked depressed. These photographs weren’t shared nearly as many times in comparison to the ones that didn’t contain people in the image. This is because like Holiday says, “If something is a total bummer, people won’t share it” (Holiday, 2012, p 85). His main point when discussing this tactic is that sadness depresses and decreases a person’s desire to share, however, the subject can be negative, just not too negative. For example, anger, fear, excitement, or laughter all drive a person to spread and share the media. Just because something spreads, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is an intriguing, interesting and thought provoking article.
Cheering On Our Own Deception
Holiday’s most important point in this chapter is that the media and the public are not on the same side. Most would think the media is there to provide the public consumers about scams and the tricks that companies do in order to encourage people to purchase items. However, the media in today’s world is deceiving and most of the time misleading to the public. Holiday discusses how often times the news is reporting about news that has already been reported. He states “Coverage about coverage is not more coverage, though it may feel like it” (Holiday, 2012, p 247). One is the actual and real news, and the other is “worthless filler” or news that tells us how we were informed about the news.
Work Cited Holiday, R. (2012) Trust Me, I'm Lying. New York: Penguin Group.