Whenever a website tells me something is "free," it usually isn't. We all know this already. But it's become so bad now that the word itself has reversed in meaning in my mind. When I hear "free" in any context now, I assume I'm going to be asked for money in a moment.
And that's the thing about the lack of regulation on internet advertising: as we adapt to the lies we're told, the advertisers have to tell increasingly preposterous lies and invent even more deceptive schemes. I get emails now telling me I've suddenly won tens of millions of dollars, with absolutely no catch, in a European lottery. I'm told that I can have free ipods and cell phones and computers and software products and all I have to do is "click yes."
It's this lottery mentality they capitalize on. Like trying to imagine millions of stars in the galaxy, or millions of molecules in a drop of water, we're inadequate thinkers to conceptualize millions of possible outcomes in a lottery-style draw. Not being able to do this, we come to the quick conclusion that it's worth the minor effort (clicking yes, or spending a dollar, or some such action) to get a chance at such a disproportionate payoff. We all know the internet schemes nearly 100% bullshit, but we click anyway on the extremely small (perceived) chance it's a real deal. Imagine if someone was just handing out free scratch lottery cards at the mall. You'd take one just for the hell of it, wouldn't you?
Just remember a simple principle about people on the internet: they can fall into two categories: people who are trying to make money off of you, and people who aren't. The people who aren't will never give you anything for free, and the people who are will only give you something if you end up giving them something of greater value in return. Usually this is money, and occasionally it is your time and effort filling out countless surveys and signing up for credit cards with exorbitant interest rates. There are no free lunches online!
And that's the thing about the lack of regulation on internet advertising: as we adapt to the lies we're told, the advertisers have to tell increasingly preposterous lies and invent even more deceptive schemes. I get emails now telling me I've suddenly won tens of millions of dollars, with absolutely no catch, in a European lottery. I'm told that I can have free ipods and cell phones and computers and software products and all I have to do is "click yes."
It's this lottery mentality they capitalize on. Like trying to imagine millions of stars in the galaxy, or millions of molecules in a drop of water, we're inadequate thinkers to conceptualize millions of possible outcomes in a lottery-style draw. Not being able to do this, we come to the quick conclusion that it's worth the minor effort (clicking yes, or spending a dollar, or some such action) to get a chance at such a disproportionate payoff. We all know the internet schemes nearly 100% bullshit, but we click anyway on the extremely small (perceived) chance it's a real deal. Imagine if someone was just handing out free scratch lottery cards at the mall. You'd take one just for the hell of it, wouldn't you?
Just remember a simple principle about people on the internet: they can fall into two categories: people who are trying to make money off of you, and people who aren't. The people who aren't will never give you anything for free, and the people who are will only give you something if you end up giving them something of greater value in return. Usually this is money, and occasionally it is your time and effort filling out countless surveys and signing up for credit cards with exorbitant interest rates. There are no free lunches online!
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