Greetings. The amount of cynicism I see here about the Internet is really quite remarkable. Maybe it helps to have been engaged in this wonder of the world from the early ARPANET days (as I have) to fully appreciate what a fantastic tool the Internet is.
And yes, like any tool, the Internet can be used for good or evil. A hammer can help build a house for a needy family, or it can bash in someone's skull. The hammer doesn't make that decision -- the people using it are in control.
And so it is with the Internet as we stand on the cusp of 2023. Best, -L
I agree. The problem was that government got involved, the internet became commercialized, and now the majority of the audience is the entertainment audience, which means ads on everything and lowest common denominator content prioritized by business.
However, there is still a lot of good stuff out there, and I have not touched a phone book in years. That in my eyes is a positive advance.
@Jazzy_Butts @lauren
Anything that requires centralization has the potential to impose ads.
The original internet did not, so Google and social media worked together to make a new Big Six media companies dominating it.
This is one reason why the Fediverse is a breath of fresh air.