Chapter 2 Exercises: The Long History of Persuasion Technology

Instructions

These 35 exercises are designed to deepen your engagement with the historical material in Chapter 2. They are organized by type: Reflection, Research, Analysis, Creative, and Group Discussion. Complete them in any order unless your instructor specifies otherwise. Some exercises are suitable for individual work; others are designed for pairs or small groups.

Reflection Exercises

1. [Reflection] Your Personal Persuasion History Think back to the earliest moment you can remember being deliberately persuaded by media — a television commercial, a magazine advertisement, a website banner, a social media post. Describe the experience in detail. What emotions did the persuasion attempt to evoke? Did it work? Looking back now, can you identify which elements of Aristotle's framework (ethos, pathos, logos) were deployed? Write at least 300 words.

2. [Reflection] Mapping Your Attention Day For one full day, keep a log of every time you interact with a medium that is supported by advertising: social media, streaming video, news websites, podcasts, television. Record the medium, the duration of the interaction, and — briefly — your emotional state before and after. At the end of the day, review your log. What patterns do you notice? How does seeing your attention in aggregate change how you think about it?

3. [Reflection] The Invisible Advertiser Think of a product or service you have purchased in the last month that you first became aware of through social media. Trace back, as carefully as you can, the chain of exposure that led to your awareness of this product. Was the exposure obviously an advertisement, or did it feel organic? At what point did you realize you were being targeted? What does this experience tell you about the effectiveness of "native" or embedded advertising?

4. [Reflection] Before the Algorithm Interview a person who was an adult before the widespread adoption of smartphones (i.e., someone who came of age before roughly 2005). Ask them about their media consumption habits as young adults: how they got news, how they socialized, how they spent their leisure time, and how advertising reached them. Write a 400-word reflection comparing their experience to your own. What has changed? What is continuous?

5. [Reflection] The Bernays Mirror Edward Bernays believed that most people's decisions are driven not by rational deliberation but by unconscious emotional and social needs that skilled persuaders can identify and exploit. Spend ten minutes thinking honestly about a recent decision you made that was influenced by social media — a purchase, a political opinion, a social behavior. To what extent do you think Bernays would be right about your decision-making process? Does this acknowledgment make you uncomfortable? Why or why not?

6. [Reflection] Continuity and Change After reading Chapter 2, write a short personal essay (300-400 words) responding to this question: Does knowing the long history of persuasion technology change how you feel about your current relationship with social media? Does the historical continuity make you feel better (it has always been this way), worse (the exploitation is systematic and deep), or simply more clear-eyed? Explain your reasoning.

7. [Reflection] The Nielsen Moment Arthur Nielsen made audience attention measurable. Reflect on the following: in what areas of your own life is your attention currently being measured? (Think broadly: not just social media, but workplace monitoring, retail loyalty programs, school attendance, health apps.) How does knowing you are being measured change your behavior? Does it change what you attend to?

Research Exercises

8. [Research] Yellow Journalism Then and Now Find three examples of content from current social media feeds — posts, videos, or articles — that you think exemplify the spirit of yellow journalism: sensationalistic, emotionally manipulative, potentially misleading, designed above all to provoke a reaction. Document each example with a screenshot or link and a 100-word analysis explaining why it fits the yellow journalism pattern. Then write a 200-word reflection on what, if anything, distinguishes yellow journalism in newspapers from emotionally manipulative content on social media platforms.

9. [Research] The First Banner Ad The first web banner ad appeared on HotWired on October 27, 1994. Research this event and write a 300-word account of: (a) what the ad looked like and said, (b) what the click-through rate was and how that compared to contemporary standards, and (c) what industry observers said about the implications of the ad at the time. What predictions made in 1994 turned out to be accurate? Which turned out to be wrong?

10. [Research] Edward Bernays' Client List Research the full range of Edward Bernays' clients and campaigns over his career. Create a table listing at least ten major campaigns, the client, the approximate year, and the technique used. For each entry, identify a contemporary analog — a current marketing practice or platform feature that uses a similar technique. What does this exercise reveal about the continuity between early twentieth-century PR and contemporary digital marketing?

11. [Research] The Nielsen Rating System Research how the Nielsen rating system actually worked mechanically in the 1950s through the 1970s: how audiences were sampled, how viewing was measured, how the data was used. Then research how contemporary digital platforms measure engagement. Write a 400-word comparison identifying the key similarities and key differences between Nielsen ratings and modern engagement metrics. What did Nielsen miss that digital platforms now capture?

12. [Research] Early Internet Dark Patterns Research the "pop-up ad" era of the early internet (roughly 1997-2004) and identify at least five specific dark pattern techniques that were common during this period. For each, find a contemporary social media analog — a current design technique that works on similar principles. Cite at least two sources for your historical research.

13. [Research] The Soap Opera Origin Story The term "soap opera" comes from the advertising history described in this chapter. Research the origins of the soap opera as a radio format in the early 1930s, focusing on the relationship between the format and its sponsors. Write a 300-word account that connects the narrative structure of the soap opera (serial, cliffhanger-driven, emotionally engaging) to the engagement design principles of contemporary streaming and social media platforms.

14. [Research] Google AdWords in Context Google launched AdWords in October 2000, during the dot-com bust. Research the competitive context of this launch: what was the advertising industry experiencing at that time, what alternatives to AdWords existed, and how did the industry respond to the new model? Write a 300-word account of why keyword-based advertising was a significant innovation, connecting it to the chapter's argument about the escalating sophistication of attention monetization.

Analysis Exercises

15. [Analysis] The Persuasion Stack Applied Choose one feature of a social media platform you use regularly — for example, Instagram's Stories format, Twitter/X's trending topics, TikTok's duet feature, or Snapchat's streaks. Apply the Persuasion Stack framework (biological, psychological, social, technological, economic layers) to analyze this feature. For each layer, identify what specific mechanism is at work. Write a 500-word structured analysis.

16. [Analysis] Aristotle's Algorithm Aristotle wrote that the most effective persuasion combines ethos, pathos, and logos in proportion appropriate to the audience and occasion. Analyze TikTok's For You Page recommendation algorithm from an Aristotelian perspective. How does the algorithm deploy each of the three modes of persuasion? Are they deployed in equal proportion, or does the algorithmic context favor one over the others? Explain your reasoning in 300-400 words.

17. [Analysis] The Attention Economy Timeline Create a visual timeline of the major developments in the history of persuasion technology described in this chapter. For each entry on the timeline, include: the development, its date, what new capability it introduced, and what precedent it built on. Your timeline should include at least fifteen entries and should visually represent the acceleration of development over time.

18. [Analysis] Monetization Models Compared The chapter describes several different business models for monetizing audience attention: the subscription model (early newspapers), the advertising-supported free content model, the keyword auction model (Google), and the behavioral data model (Facebook). Create a comparison table analyzing each model on these dimensions: what the user pays, what the user receives, what data is collected about the user, who benefits most, and what incentives the model creates for content quality. What conclusions do you draw from this comparison?

19. [Analysis] The Cable-to-Algorithm Transition The chapter argues that cable television's audience segmentation in the 1980s-90s is a precursor to algorithmic personalization on social media. Write a 400-word analysis that: (a) identifies the specific ways in which cable segmentation and algorithmic personalization are similar, (b) identifies the specific ways in which they are different, and (c) evaluates whether the chapter's argument for historical continuity is convincing or overstated.

20. [Analysis] Opacity as a Feature The chapter identifies opacity — the invisibility of algorithmic decision-making to users and regulators — as one of the genuinely new features of contemporary persuasion systems. Write a 300-word analysis addressing: (a) why opacity might be a deliberate design choice rather than an accident, (b) who benefits from opacity and who is harmed by it, and (c) what transparency would require and what it would cost.

21. [Analysis] The Printing Press Parallel Some historians argue that the social disruptions associated with the internet and social media are comparable to the disruptions caused by the printing press in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries — religious upheaval, political instability, the spread of misinformation alongside the spread of knowledge. Evaluate this analogy. In what ways does it illuminate the current moment? In what ways does it mislead? Write a 400-word analytical response.

Creative Exercises

22. [Creative] A Bernays Campaign for Social Media Write a 400-word internal memo, in the style of Edward Bernays, proposing a campaign to convince teenagers that social media use is an expression of independence and maturity. Use Bernays' actual techniques: emotional framing, celebrity association, third-party credibility, and a "pseudo-event" that would generate press coverage. Then append a 200-word reflection on what this exercise reveals about the continuity between 1920s PR techniques and contemporary social media marketing.

23. [Creative] The First Algorithmic Ad Write a short story (400-500 words) set in 1994, from the perspective of the AT&T marketing executive who approved the first web banner ad. How does he or she imagine this new medium? What possibilities does it seem to open? What problems does it seem to solve? What does the executive not yet know about where this technology is headed? The story should be historically grounded but can include fictional characters and dialogue.

24. [Creative] A Nielsen Report for TikTok In the style of a 1960s Nielsen ratings report — formal, statistical, addressed to network executives — write a mock "report" summarizing the viewing habits of a fictional 17-year-old TikTok user named Maya. Include statistics about daily usage, content categories consumed, peak usage times, and engagement patterns. Then write a 200-word reflection on what this exercise reveals about the continuity and differences between broadcast audience measurement and contemporary behavioral data collection.

25. [Creative] Aristotle's Social Media Manual Write a 500-word passage in the style of Aristotle's Rhetoric, advising a "modern rhetorician" on how to use ethos, pathos, and logos effectively on a contemporary social media platform of your choice. Make Aristotle's advice specific and practical — as though he had studied the platform carefully and understood its mechanics — while preserving his philosophical voice and framing. Aim for something that is both analytically accurate and rhetorically engaging.

26. [Creative] The Minow Moment In 1961, FCC Chairman Newton Minow called American television a "vast wasteland." Write a 400-word speech, in the style of Minow's original address, that a contemporary regulator might deliver about social media platforms. Adapt Minow's arguments — the gap between potential and reality, the dominance of commercial over civic values, the need for accountability — to the contemporary context. Then reflect briefly on whether Minow's arguments apply equally well, less well, or better to social media than to television.

27. [Creative] Platform Design Through History Design a fictional social media platform as it might have been conceived and built by a historical persuasion technologist. Choose one of the following: (a) Edward Bernays designing a platform in 1930, (b) a newspaper baron designing a platform in 1895, or (c) a television network executive designing a platform in 1965. What features would each version include? What would the business model be? What psychological principles would guide the design? Write a 500-word "founding vision document" for your platform.

Group Discussion Exercises

28. [Group Discussion] The Responsibility Question In a small group, discuss the following question: who bears primary responsibility for the negative effects of the attention economy? Assign positions before the discussion begins: one or two people should argue that platforms bear primary responsibility; one or two should argue that users bear primary responsibility; one or two should argue that the advertising-supported business model bears primary responsibility; and one or two should argue that regulators bear primary responsibility. After the structured debate, step out of your assigned positions and discuss which argument you found most convincing and why.

29. [Group Discussion] Historical Empathy Discuss the following proposition: "People living through previous persuasion technology transitions — the printing press, mass newspapers, radio, television — probably did not recognize the long-term consequences of what was happening. What makes us think we can recognize them now?" How would you respond to this challenge? What resources do we have now that previous generations did not? What blind spots might we still have?

30. [Group Discussion] The Minow Standard Newton Minow argued that broadcasters had an obligation to serve "the public interest, convenience, and necessity" — not just the commercial interest of advertisers. In your group, discuss whether this standard should apply to social media platforms. What would serving "the public interest" require of a social media platform? How would you measure whether a platform was meeting this standard? Is the standard realistic given the economic structure of the industry?

31. [Group Discussion] Continuity or Rupture? The chapter argues for historical continuity in persuasion technology. Some scholars argue instead that social media represents a genuine rupture — a qualitatively different phenomenon that cannot be understood through historical analogies. In your group, assign people to defend each position and then discuss: what evidence would settle the question? Is it a meaningful question, or does the answer depend on what you are trying to understand or do?

32. [Group Discussion] The Informed User Discuss the following: after reading this chapter, do you feel better or worse equipped to navigate social media? Does understanding the history of persuasion technology make you more resistant to its effects, or does it simply make you more aware of your vulnerability? Is awareness sufficient for protection, or does structural change require something beyond individual awareness?

33. [Group Discussion] Designing Against the History In your group, discuss what a social media platform would look like if it were specifically designed to counteract the patterns identified in this chapter — to resist the incentive structure of the attention economy, to avoid the dark patterns of the banner ad era, to serve users' genuine interests rather than maximize engagement. What features would it include? What would it give up? Is such a platform economically viable? Would users actually want to use it?

34. [Group Discussion] The Newspaper Parallel The advertising-supported newspaper, which emerged in the mid-nineteenth century, eventually developed professional norms — journalism ethics, editorial independence, fact-checking standards — that partially counteracted the purely commercial incentives of the attention economy. Discuss whether a similar process is likely or possible for social media platforms. What would the equivalent of journalism ethics look like in a platform context? What institutional structures would be needed to make such norms stick?

35. [Group Discussion] The Long Game This chapter ends with the question of whether we can "learn from history quickly enough." In your group, discuss: what, specifically, would it mean to learn from this history? What concrete changes — in regulation, platform design, user behavior, education, or cultural norms — would represent a meaningful response to the patterns the chapter identifies? Who would need to act, and what would motivate them to act? Is optimism warranted?