

Ask HN:  No such thing as bad publicity? - cj

A new site has become an overnight success at my school recently, called RateBU.com.<p>It's basically a clone of FaceMash from The Social Network, where you vote which BU girl is hotter. The founder, an undergrad here, is getting a bunch of press, mostly negative, with his name mentioned in each article.<p>Is there really no such thing as bad publicity?<p>I considered making a clone myself after seeing the movie, but decided I didn't want to be known as that guy. Was that the right move in the long run?
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jeffmould
Ignoring the ethical/moral/legal side of the matter, there a lot of sites that
launch and create controversy. Even FB has significant controversy from time
to time on their actions.

I think there are two kinds of "bad publicity". An example of the first would
be as in the case of the DecorMyEyes guy. This guy was doing something
completely illegal and taking advantage of customers for his own gain. This
type of "bad publicity" was obviously warranted and resulted in him being
arrested. This is truly "bad publicity" in my eyes.

The other type of bad publicity results around people not agreeing with
someone else's moral/ethical views. Just because you or I may view something
as being morally or ethically wrong does not make it illegal in the eyes of
the judicial system. The press will run with stories that create controversy,
and this site stirs the pot for sure. A lot of sites stir the pot though and
cause debate in society. The fact that this guy was able to launch a site, get
some traction, and generate attention from at least one major media outlet
(there could be others, I just saw the Washington Post story though) is what
makes the site even more interesting. The publicity he and his site are
receiving, good or bad, is a testament to his ability to launch a product,
gain traction, and generate publicity. In this sense the publicity is not
necessarily "bad", it just isn't "good" either. The publicity has probably had
the opposite effect in that he may now be getting requests from students at
other schools, etc...

So to answer your question, yes there is such thing as bad publicity, but I
believe you have to look at whether that publicity is a result of illegal
actions or just a debate over whether you agree with someone else's
moral/ethical stance.

