[arg_discuss] is ARG just a marketing technique to the press?

[despain at quantumcontent.com]

I think a lot of the confusion stems from the way media has used the
Internet in the past. For all ten years of its life, the web has been used
only as marketing by the "traditional media" - even newspapers think of it
more as marketing than as a real income generator.

So any online component of an entertainment experience is going to be seen
as marketing. I was able to do ARGs (or ARG-like things, depending on your
personal definition of the term ARG) related to television shows mostly
because the suits saw it as viral marketing. They had no interest in it as
an entertainment form itself, and even kicked back when we proposed things
they thought would "overshadow" the main event on TV.

What is the web for, after all? Is it for learning things? Is it for
getting the word out about something? Is it for entertainment? Is it for
pr0n?

Well, it's not just "for" one thing for all people. But that's a hard
concept to put into words sometimes.

Wendy Despain
quantumcontent.com