It's not about not having a #brand. It's about having a #brand that is not about selling yourself to others, but communicating deep truths about yourself and your experience in a way that promotes understanding and connection.

People hate on brands because they can't imagine brands outside of capitalism, but consider: They actually predate it. A brand is a mark of ownership and of personal agency. Marketing is simply the task of making yourself known to others.

I always think of this Halsey interview when I get talking about things like this, because I think she says some stuff that's really on-point: https://www.popjustice.com/articles/halsey-interview-i-dont-believe-people-who-say-theyre-themselves-all-the-time/139218/ https://icosahedron.website/media/e5KIyeVwtyUZJoYN0nU

This is how I can love branding and marketing even as I hate on capitalism, lol. I think there's room for an incredibly personal approach to the art of making yourself known.

@u2764 "Brand" and "branding" are, literally, putting the mark and symbol before the meaning.

Map-territory confusion (and inversion).

That's ... a large part of the negative response.

Yes, there are a few specific products, merchants, and manufacturers I respect. They're overwhelmingly the minority. And brand dilution is a very, very, very real thing. All but inevitable.

@u2764 Ob: #GreshamsLaw

@dredmorbius Where else would you put the mark but before meaning? After, lol? The mark is the means by which meaning is communicated, so it has to come before.

What makes brands powerful is that they represent ideals rather than realities. I am not so cynical as to say that ideals have no place in society. To the contrary imo.

Although me arguing for brands as a concept ≠ me advocating for specific brands as they exist today, to be clear.

@u2764 Putting the /significance/ of the mark before meaning.

Which I'd really hoped would have been clear.