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I'm someone saddened that the discussion here focuses only on what the advertiser (/ tech companies) should have done and leaves out the aspect of how we have f

I'm someone saddened that the discussion here focuses only on what the advertiser (/ tech companies) should have done and leaves out the aspect of how we have failed to bring the obvious solution to the harmed individual: Install an adblocker at the first sign of trouble. How come she was so morally obliged to watch any ads in the first place instead of engaging in basic self defense? Or if the answer is technological: How come we accept the tyranny of advertisers on our most personal devices? Pi-Hole is a nice gimmick for those who can use it. If we can't bring the choice not to watch advertisements to the masses, we have essentially failed.

wilg 8y ago
You can't put an ad blocker in native phone apps, like Instagram. Sure, you can do it on the mobile website, but then you have to switch to the mobile website.
- vortico 8y ago
  Apps that change the /etc/hosts file work great. Nearly all social media apps pull ads from separate domains, which can be easily curated into a list. Requires rooting your phone.
curiousgal 8y ago
Precisely. Whenever I help a friend with their computer issues I am appalled by the user experience on the internet without and ad blocker, so it's not just a matter of privacy. Asking companies to change their algorithms is quite honestly petty. And for some reason this has rubbed me the wrong way, gives out an attention seeking vibe. Just my two cents.
PascLeRasc 8y ago
I'm slowly becoming convinced adblocking is the most noble form of software development.
pdimitar 8y ago
> Or if the answer is technological: How come we accept the tyranny of advertisers on our most personal devices? This alone deserves a entire novel to be answered properly but in short: it reaches out to social, political and economical reasons. As I programmer I so wish the problems to be only technological but alas, they are not. 1. Most people view anything they don't understand and/or are not good at as magic that "is simply there and works this way". Most non-technical people I knew in my life -- not a small number, has to be north of 300 -- simply had no idea you could block ads. And something like the Pi-Hole they would never imagine even being possible. It'd be a spy movie tech for them. 2. Possibly controversial anecdotal observation of mine during my whole life: most normal folk are very maleable and accepting for the realities around them. Many of my peers call them "sheep" or other derogatory terms and even though on rare occasions I am pissed enough to agree with them, I still understand and realize that people have jobs and lives to deal with and they don't want to go out of their way to try and make a difference in the world. I used to be mad at that but nowadays, with me having suffered years of depression and burnout, I understand that regular folk all too well... 3. Related to the above: not many want to change society at large. As much as it boggled my mind, I actually heard a chunk of the people I met agreeing to have ads served to them. At certain point you have to wonder would you be the hero of the story that aims to bring down tech giants that harvest personal data, or the villain? I know I would view myself as the hero for sure but you gotta wonder sometimes. --- As an even more controversial aside, IMO the current breed of capitalism is ruthless and tries to fill every minute of people's leisure time with a ton of activities -- like doing taxes in huge convoluted procedures, poking you with notifications on your phone to hatch virtual eggs quicker with the diamond currency of your mobile game of choice or whatever, Facebook et al never leaving you alone about somebody posting something, and lots and lots of others. What I am trying to say is that most people I see around me are way too tired and broken to NOT accept tyranny.
scarejunba 8y ago
She isn’t obligated to do so, because no one is obligated to use these platforms. They are entirely optional to life and purely a luxury item. It’s a suffering person, yes, but would I rather have Instagram that you can opt in to and receive targeted ads in exchange for its feature set than no Instagram? Yes. And I believe if we allowed people to make the free choice, they would too. This is about the equivalent of going to a high school reunion and having people talk about their kids soon after you had a miscarriage. It’s horrible to have that happen but it’s an honest mistake. Jumping on the “targeted advertising is evil” wagon just means we fail to solve it another more-likely way: like how you’d imply to your old classmates in that situation that you find it painful to hear about the topic right then.
blang 8y ago
> Or if the answer is technological: How come we accept the tyranny of advertisers on our most personal devices? On the side of the user: because we don't like paying for services with money. On the side of the company: hockey stick growth gets big pay outs, growth can happen much quicker if you give a service away and pay with advertiser.
danso 8y ago
She describes clicking "I don't want to see this ad" and "It's not relevant to me".
- mynameisvlad 8y ago
  That's not using an Adblocker, though. It's just letting Fb/whoever know that the ad isn't suitable for them.
  - danso 8y ago
    Maybe she’s on mobile? Also, the author isn’t against seeing ads, period.
fb-denier 8y ago
The first time I saw an ad that was targeted to me on Facebook based on browsing I had done elsewhere, I deleted Facebook within a month and never used it again.
chapium 8y ago
I dont see tyranny, but I do see a ton of sheep flocking to a pasture.

wilg 8y ago

You can't put an ad blocker in native phone apps, like Instagram. Sure, you can do it on the mobile website, but then you have to switch to the mobile website.

vortico 8y ago
Apps that change the /etc/hosts file work great. Nearly all social media apps pull ads from separate domains, which can be easily curated into a list. Requires rooting your phone.

curiousgal 8y ago

Precisely. Whenever I help a friend with their computer issues I am appalled by the user experience on the internet without and ad blocker, so it's not just a matter of privacy. Asking companies to change their algorithms is quite honestly petty. And for some reason this has rubbed me the wrong way, gives out an attention seeking vibe. Just my two cents.

PascLeRasc 8y ago

I'm slowly becoming convinced adblocking is the most noble form of software development.

pdimitar 8y ago

> Or if the answer is technological: How come we accept the tyranny of advertisers on our most personal devices? This alone deserves a entire novel to be answered properly but in short: it reaches out to social, political and economical reasons. As I programmer I so wish the problems to be only technological but alas, they are not. 1. Most people view anything they don't understand and/or are not good at as magic that "is simply there and works this way". Most non-technical people I knew in my life -- not a small number, has to be north of 300 -- simply had no idea you could block ads. And something like the Pi-Hole they would never imagine even being possible. It'd be a spy movie tech for them. 2. Possibly controversial anecdotal observation of mine during my whole life: most normal folk are very maleable and accepting for the realities around them. Many of my peers call them "sheep" or other derogatory terms and even though on rare occasions I am pissed enough to agree with them, I still understand and realize that people have jobs and lives to deal with and they don't want to go out of their way to try and make a difference in the world. I used to be mad at that but nowadays, with me having suffered years of depression and burnout, I understand that regular folk all too well... 3. Related to the above: not many want to change society at large. As much as it boggled my mind, I actually heard a chunk of the people I met agreeing to have ads served to them. At certain point you have to wonder would you be the hero of the story that aims to bring down tech giants that harvest personal data, or the villain? I know I would view myself as the hero for sure but you gotta wonder sometimes. --- As an even more controversial aside, IMO the current breed of capitalism is ruthless and tries to fill every minute of people's leisure time with a ton of activities -- like doing taxes in huge convoluted procedures, poking you with notifications on your phone to hatch virtual eggs quicker with the diamond currency of your mobile game of choice or whatever, Facebook et al never leaving you alone about somebody posting something, and lots and lots of others. What I am trying to say is that most people I see around me are way too tired and broken to NOT accept tyranny.

scarejunba 8y ago

She isn’t obligated to do so, because no one is obligated to use these platforms. They are entirely optional to life and purely a luxury item. It’s a suffering person, yes, but would I rather have Instagram that you can opt in to and receive targeted ads in exchange for its feature set than no Instagram? Yes. And I believe if we allowed people to make the free choice, they would too. This is about the equivalent of going to a high school reunion and having people talk about their kids soon after you had a miscarriage. It’s horrible to have that happen but it’s an honest mistake. Jumping on the “targeted advertising is evil” wagon just means we fail to solve it another more-likely way: like how you’d imply to your old classmates in that situation that you find it painful to hear about the topic right then.

blang 8y ago

> Or if the answer is technological: How come we accept the tyranny of advertisers on our most personal devices? On the side of the user: because we don't like paying for services with money. On the side of the company: hockey stick growth gets big pay outs, growth can happen much quicker if you give a service away and pay with advertiser.

danso 8y ago

She describes clicking "I don't want to see this ad" and "It's not relevant to me".

mynameisvlad 8y ago
That's not using an Adblocker, though. It's just letting Fb/whoever know that the ad isn't suitable for them.
- danso 8y ago
  Maybe she’s on mobile? Also, the author isn’t against seeing ads, period.

fb-denier 8y ago

The first time I saw an ad that was targeted to me on Facebook based on browsing I had done elsewhere, I deleted Facebook within a month and never used it again.

chapium 8y ago

I dont see tyranny, but I do see a ton of sheep flocking to a pasture.