What do you think the deal is with www.thisman.org?

It’s obviously the face of god.

do YOU dream about him?

I can honestly say I haven’t.

dunno what the deal is about him but I don’t think he’s creepy or anything. Just is.

Maybe it’s using culture jamming as a viral marketing tool?

So is this your site or is your avatar based on that site?

I think that this is just a deceptive campaign of some sort; I don’t know what the goals are. Or maybe this is about a posthuman delinquent that haunts people in their dreams.

Oh god, I’ve never even seen this dude.
>>cringles<<

@markyy: are we being spammed?

This stuff usually turns out to be hoaxes.

.@hearkat Not sure. The domain is owned by someone that works for http://www.guerrigliamarketing.it/ My italian is not that good, I only know a few swearing words ;).

Read this article. Seems to me it’s someone that wants to make a name in the SEO and Marketing business. So hoax, viral, self promotion what ever you want to call it is fine by me.

Well, now I’ll probably dream about him. There is something familiar about the face, regardless of the viral marketing potential..

@hearkat: I’m not spamming this. But am interested to know the motivation, as there is no obvious tie to a commercial effort.

@TheLastMan Commercial effort is not only selling ‘stuff’. In this case it’s obvious someone trying to make a name for himself, maybe even getting a job out of it. Let me quote the article I linked to earlier, because I just know a lot of people don’t click on it, and keep bringing up the subject:

All this really means that Italian “guerrilla marketer” Andrea Natella is pretty good at what he does, except for that whole private domain registration thingy. Because Natella is the guy who registered the site on January 24, 2009. And Andrea Natella doesn’t hide what he does from the curious surfer who learns his name.

He’s a “sociologist specializing in marketing” and once wrote an article about the “origins of the subversive use of the hoax in Italy.” He runs GuerrigliaMarketing.it, where he defines “Guerrilla Marketing” as “a set of non-conventional communication techniques that achieves maximum visibility with minimum investment.” Natella also states on his site that the “memetic virus can replicate itself in the minds of consumers.” (source)

So yes there are commercial ties to a person, he created the hoax for personal benefits (experience and fame). For those of you that don’t know what is meant by a ‘memetic virus’, it is exactly what’s happening right here.

@markyy Nice one!

I just Googled it and found the article, all credit should go that blogger.

@TheLastMan: I have not clicked on your link and probably won’t. But your Fluther name and avatar are apparently similar to what is on the site… so I am curious if your motivation for posting this Question is to direct traffic there?

@hearkat The web site isn’t dangerous, but it’s creepy. @TheLastMan claims that he’s not advertising.

Awww hearkat. Dont be scared

@doggywuv and @TheLastMan: It is not fear that prevents me from viewing the site. It is my decision nit to encourage one of many media nuisances in my opinion. I abhor marketing games and sensationalism. Of course the OP denies any affiliation with the site. If he were to admit to it, the question would be removed and his purpose would be defeated.

@hearkat fluther conspiracy theory. Love it!

@TheLastMan: This isn’t the first time. No big deal.

@hearkat The op’s account states he does not live in Italy, and his interests do not include seo/marketing. That doesn’t mean he is not lying, but it he did lie on his account information he certainly is not going to confess it here either. Let’s cut him some slack :)

@markyy: I haven’t been harsh. I’ve just expressed my curious suspicion. I have not reported this question (nor do I recall ever flagging any questions). I typically ignore the overt spam posts; but since it is questionable in this case, I just wanted to mention that the possibility exists.

Well, I assume I am known as an ‘OP’?

I’m new to fluther, but I find the idea of crowd sourcing interesting. I am still not sold on whether it is truly practical and/or useful. But, I appreciated several of the responses to my 1st question. And thanks to markyy, seem to have an answer to this one [The answer seems to be: thisman.org is a marketing/social experiment, but doesnt market anything. @hearkat: Perhaps the originator would find your reaction interesting.].

In any event, it would certainly be too bad if such things as this discussion get policed away here.

@TheLastMan: I saw that you are new to Fluther, which is one reason for my suspicion. I hope that you are sincere in your responses and motivations, in which case I welcome you, neighbor.
Yes, OP is an abbreviation for “Original Poster” in most online forums.
In your comment, whom do you mean by, “the originator”?

@hearkat: Thanks

I meant whoever created or originated thisman

@hearkat Sorry I didn’t mean to say you were harsh. Like you I had my doubts about this post, hence my first reply. I meant to say let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.. stupid language barrier..

@markyy: As for the avatar: I just like it

@markyy: I tend to give the benefit of the doubt more easily than most; in this case, time will tell. :-)

@TheLastMan: The creator of that site probably couldn’t care less about my opinion, because as a middle-aged woman, I doubt I am in his target demographic anyway.
~Perhaps you can forward a link to this post to him?~
(FYI: ~ is used to denote sarcasm on Fluther)

That guy has a familiar looking face, though it’s creepy as hell. Like a pedophile or something. I’ve never dreamed his face, though I feel like I might now.

Come to think of it, I have an uncle who looked like “thisman” in his youth.

that’s really creepy.

io9 just had a post about this, and I realized who he reminded me of.

Click here to see the image I came up with.

@drdoombot SO RIGHT!

(normally I get annoyed by the “he went to my school” proclamations, but he’s a geeky CMU alum! :D)