Comment by WarmWash
17 days ago
The discussion around Ad blocking is, while definitely a needed discussion, is so rife with confusion, dishonesty and and self-serving ideology that we are going to kill the internet while being absolutely 100% sure that never giving compensation for value did not do any damage or play any part in making the internet suck.
Oh give it a rest.
You want to talk about killing a system... look at all the perverse incentives that pop up when companies are allowed to sell user attention instead of decent services and products.
If the modern social media internet dies because of ad-blockers... good damn riddance.
The alternative is a class based internet where people with money have access to all the services and people without money get the smallest/worse resources.
Everyone takes for granted, or is unaware, that the structure of the current internet is unbelievably progressive (money doesn't matter, attention does, and everyone has the same 24 hours of attention to sell), and yet here we are desperately trying to get away from it.
P.S. The 90's internet is dead and isn't coming back. I'm uninterested in engaging if you think bringing back geocities and IRC is a legitimate strategy that the whole of society would happily jump right into. I can already see my mom uninstalling instagram to hop on mIRC.
> everyone has the same 24 hours of attention to sell
In general, I agree with what you wrote, but I think advertisers will value "attention" differently based on your purchasing power; not all ad views are equal.
The internet is already a class based internet. Why do you think SO many services want you to login, or force you to their mobile apps? They are curating your experience to be as extractive as possible, and if you're not worth much money, they absolutely ditch you, or "pivot" away from that user base.
Attention doesn't matter, attention that generates revenue for corporations does. If you think there's some egalitarian process happening here... you're misunderstanding how the incentives in this system play out.
And no - I don't think the 90s internet is coming back. To be frank, I don't give a flying fuck about your mom and whether she can use mIRC or not (or my mother, for that matter). I care about my kids, and the experiences they'll have with technology.
I think dropping my children into this ad-riddled, dopamine hijacking, carefully crafted to be exploitative technological environment is just a damn irresponsible thing to be doing. And if that means ad-blockers as a side effect... great.
Then I'll vote to burn that damn thing down every chance that's presented. I don't think people should be served up addictive experiences through always present devices to sell them shit they don't need with funding from ads. Full fucking stop. What a fucking dystopia you present as some progressive space. Blech... It's only progressive in the sense that everyone gets the same gruel of meaningless, unfulfilling content.
> The only way we can have welfare is to siphon billions into tech monopolies by psychologically manipulating everyone into spending on crap they don't need. This is totally good for those not as well off.
Ok, buddy.
… or play any part in making the internet suck.
Right, it’s the ad-blocking that’s making the internet suck. You’re going to hurt your lower back carrying that much water.
I'm willing to go down that road to see where it ends up.
There is no discussion. My computer, my rules: no harassment and psychological manipulation allowed no matter how much your business model relies on it.