District 9 – I Loved It. Did You?

I saw District 9 over the weekend. I loved it. I love the “shaky cam” effect. I loved the story telling. The fact that it was told in a different way than most sci-fi movies are told. The political implications of the segregation of people was subtle, but important. The ease at which people devalued and inflicted horror on other beings because they were different was shocking to see because I understand how it works in real life. Overall, I loved the movie.

I did what any normal person would do in that situation, I changed my status on Facebook to reflect that. What happened next surprised and delighted me. Yes, I said “delighted”.

I got more replies than any other status I’ve had up there. People either loved it or really hated it. The shaky cam was horrible. There was only one “smart” alien. There was no one to relate to because all the decisions were stupid. It went on and on. There was love and hate all rolled up in one big, flaming ball of controversy.

It was fun to watch.

Yesterday, I got an email from a “make millions from blogging” guy who had a big secret to get 25% more traffic to your blog. The big secret is “write about something controversial”. There, now you know. You can Paypal me part of the millions you make off that idea.

Controversy does, in fact, generate traffic. Some of the fall out from that traffic is that you might make a bit more money, but probably not.

The trick to controversy is that you have to make it real. Make it true about something and people will love you. Controversy for the sake of controversy will not build long term traffic or fans of your site. Stating something that’s true, that provides value, and also happens to be controversial, will build long term traffic and fans of your site.

Controversy is fun to watch, but be careful. Use it for good and not for evil.

If you want to leave a comment, telling me how much D9 sucked, feel free. I love comments.