I like your analysis. I think one of the under appreciated aspects of this mugging is the time limitation. ‘Post in the next X minutes’ is key to ‘Choice C’:
Allow[ing] an opportunity to avoid a large amount of (fake) disutility to slip away.
Specifically, it makes the person have to think about this with a limited time span and decide on what they perceive to be the action of lowest possible danger, with the [spectacularly gruesome details] of extremely low probability seeming to be more danger than wasting some time. It also has the effect of spreading the meme more quickly.
If we assume Y% of people who read the comment would spread it in each generation, the total # of times it is viewed is dictated by the gap between each ‘generation’ of people who spread it. By forcing the mugged to spread the meme within Z minutes, the meme becomes:
‘Bumped’ in a message board, granting greater visibility
Spread with a smaller gap between generations, and so more effective at propagating
I agree with your point about time limitation acting as a an important influence. My understanding is that time limitation influences human behavior in all sorts of ways, which is probably why a substantial percentage of TV ads have some kind of call for urgency (“Limited Time Offer” “Act Now” “Don’t Wait, Call Today”)
Also, is there a specific name for this sort of advertising behavior? I was interested in looking up more sources on this but I couldn’t find any reasonably high quality ones.
I like your analysis. I think one of the under appreciated aspects of this mugging is the time limitation. ‘Post in the next X minutes’ is key to ‘Choice C’:
Specifically, it makes the person have to think about this with a limited time span and decide on what they perceive to be the action of lowest possible danger, with the [spectacularly gruesome details] of extremely low probability seeming to be more danger than wasting some time. It also has the effect of spreading the meme more quickly.
If we assume Y% of people who read the comment would spread it in each generation, the total # of times it is viewed is dictated by the gap between each ‘generation’ of people who spread it. By forcing the mugged to spread the meme within Z minutes, the meme becomes:
‘Bumped’ in a message board, granting greater visibility
Spread with a smaller gap between generations, and so more effective at propagating
[Edited for proper formatting]
I agree with your point about time limitation acting as a an important influence. My understanding is that time limitation influences human behavior in all sorts of ways, which is probably why a substantial percentage of TV ads have some kind of call for urgency (“Limited Time Offer” “Act Now” “Don’t Wait, Call Today”)
Also, is there a specific name for this sort of advertising behavior? I was interested in looking up more sources on this but I couldn’t find any reasonably high quality ones.