The digital world has created an outrage economy where there is money to be made … if you can stand the heat.
Robert Shrimsley, “Financial Times,” 2015
Call it “poking the bear” or “shaking the jar” or whatever you want to call it, the “outrage economy” is a cheap marketing ploy, designed to separate consumers from their hard-earned dollars.
Marketing ploys and gimmicks have been around since the dawn of time. Picture the snake oil salesman hawking his wares in the Middle Ages. Sure, that “medicine” or “cosmetic” was toxic, but a good salesman could convince customers they needed it. There’s a psychological reason we price things at $29.99 instead of $30 and a reason advertisers anthropomorphize animals to sell products animals don’t use. (Looking at you, Snuggle fabric softener bear.)
This “outrage economy” seems to have been birthed as a result of the internet and digital ads, aka “clickbait.” The longer you spend on a site, the more ads you’re exposed to, and the more likely you’ll be to click on one, which generates revenue for the website owner. Thus, we have a purportedly adult male setting fire to children’s toys online like a real-life version of Sid from Toy Story. And then, because you got sucked into the outrage (it’s extremely difficult to resist and highly addictive) you don’t really think about the fact you’re being used to generate revenue for this dude. Mission accomplished. Meanwhile, back in the real world, if your neighbor started setting toys on fire in the yard, you’d likely call the cops for a wellness check.
The music industry has been playing off the outrage economy forever, and it works even better in the digital age. Generate outrage over lyrics or videos and all of a sudden everyone has to hear your latest song. We can’t be left out, you know! Instead of having to go to a concert or buy an album or spend 37 hours listening to the radio waiting for “Like a Virgin” to come on again, now we just click, and the artist (or at least the producers) get paid. And that’s all it’s really about… the money.
The drawback, of course, is that the only people who walk away happy are the ones filling their pockets. The rest of us are left “all het up” with nowhere to go, an angry mob with digital pitchforks and torches, and no real monster in sight. And the only way to keep outrage going is to become more and more outrageous. And that pretty well sums up current conditions in entertainment, politics, religion, and culture.
By Niki Turner | [email protected]
