On the @Old School Cool (advert), /u/gratitudeuity asked,
Why the hell am I being addressed as “Reddit”? Do the ads in teen magazine begin “Hey seventeeners!”? What is up with this beyond disingenuous grouping? We’re not campers, we’re not all the same age, we’re not in the same room, and we’re not on the same subscription lists. Why aren’t your ads, y’know, advertisements for products rather than insincere attempts at personal relation?
Readers of a magazine have an individual experiences. They don't interact and there's no element of community. Similar could be said about Facebook, Twitter, etc. as the platforms provide each user an individualized experience. The format of Reddit, however, enables the 📝emergence of community and, with it, a collective consciousness by some definition. It feels, to me, that the widespread use of "Hey Reddit" is a manner of addressing the collective consciousness. With this, it's natural that a feeling of insincerity will be present, and magnified, when it's obvious the speaker isn't a part of the collective (adapting themselves to make an appeal for personal gain, rather than contribution to the collective). As it regards to the use of "Hey Reddit" by advertisers, on a routine new advertiser call for an account I was managing for a client, I was told by an account manager at Reddit to "make a direct appeal" [...] "try saying 'Hey Reddit'." I'd imagine that if that advice was given at that level, it's likely something that's being given to most advertisers.
Tags
- #reddit-ing