Insulated.
I insulate myself from advertising. I don’t watch TV (other than the shows I download, which are ad-free), I don’t listen to commercial radio, I have ad-blocking software in my browser and I don’t read newspapers.
I loathe being advertised at and avoid it wherever possible. So, thinking further into this, is web development actually an appropriate career for someone who hates advertising?
I’m starting to think it’s a bit of a hypocritical career move, along the lines of an environmentalist working for Exxon or something. Most of the time, you’re building what amounts to a functional online advertisement for a company or brand. Since I avoid advertising in all its forms, I have no knowledge or interest in current advertising trends or strategies, and should that affect my ability to develop an effective website? I’m always concentrating on the minutae of a website, such as the user experience, the interaction of front and back ends and so on, with no focus whatsoever on how it will be used as a marketing tool.
Are there actually any entirely non-advertising or non-marketing-related things someone might want to do on the web? If so, that’s the direction I have to move in.
