It is pretty safe to say that Instagram is the latest social media app on the rise. It has tens of millions of users, and is still rapidly gaining popularity. I myself have an account, as well as all of my friends. I know very few people that don't have one, and that is usually because they don't have a phone that the app would work on. Instagram is the new "thing".
I recently read an article that says that Instagram is about to start adding advertisements to the app. They said it was "only a matter of time" for ads to start appearing. Personally, I always loved the fact that Instagram didn't have any advertisements. Nowadays, everywhere you look there are ads. There is always someone trying to get your attention so you will go buy their product. Billboards, TV/radio commercials, Facebook/Twitter/Youtube, etc. The list goes on. They are everywhere.
Moneymaking has become such a big part of America today. It seems like people decide everything based on money. They decide which job to take because of which one pays better, not necessarily which one they would enjoy more. Money is an important aspect to society, and I think that is inevitable. But, the constant advertisements and ploys to attract consumers are crazy and overwhelming. It makes me wonder if putting an advertisement out actually works and gets people's attention, or if it just something that businesses feel the need to do to keep up with every other business. Personally, I don't remember most ads that are on TV. And if I do, it is because they are funny or clever, but they don't necessarily make me want to go out and buy that product. Now that many not be true for other people, but I wonder if it is.
Do you think advertisements are truly affective? Or is it an unspoken necessity for a business? Comment below.
In Instagram's case, advertising is necessary. That is basically the only way that this social media app will make money. If there wasn't advertising, then we would be paying $10 a year for our accounts. Although divert using may be annoying and seem unnecessary, it is necessary for these types of business to make money and helps them be able to offer free memberships to all of its users.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting idea Sara! I think the argument you brought up about advertisements just being a way for businesses to keep up its other businesses was particularly interesting. As well as this saying something about Americans drive for money, I think it also displays Americans competitive nature. Companies want to be more popular than their competing companies and are often times they are willing to "diss" them in their advertisements. I recently saw a commercial for Advil and at the end of the commercial it said "Everyday thousands of people are switching from Tylenol to Advil". This very vague statement has no evidence to back it up, but is simply meant to discourage costumers from using Tylenol and encourage them to use Advil. The competitive nature of Americans is brought out in advertisements because companies are trying to get the most costumers by criticizing other companies.
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