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Comment by briancarper | Hacker News Reader

I use hyperbole to emphasize a point. I don't cry myself to sleep when I see an ad, no. Sometimes I become mildly annoyed. Life is generally OK.

Likewise, ad-blocking isn't really "devastating" the internet, is it?

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Speaking for myself, it's very difficult to take you seriously when you use hyperbole to this extreme. Let's be completely honest here: you wrote it this way because you knew it would get more of a reaction and people wouldn't just ignore it, like they would have if you had written "It mildly annoys me." In other words, you changed your messaging to fit the market and get the results you wanted from people through emotional manipulation. Sound familiar?

No, I wrote it this way because I do feel strongly about it. I used the word "devastated" as a play on the title of the other article. I'm not "devastated", but I do feel strongly enough about this issue to alter my lifestyle, for example (e.g. avoiding TV and radio, which I very much wish I was able to enjoy).

I expect some people will agree and some disagree with what I wrote. I enjoy the discussion, but I don't get anything else out of it. I didn't have any notion that I'd convince anyone of anything. It was not an attempt to manipulate anyone. Not a conscious attempt anyways. Certainly not an attempt to manipulate people into giving me money, so I think the analogy doesn't hold.

However I may be wrong about this, it may be that my language is overboard in the way you say. Thanks for some food for thought.

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