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> research over the past decade suggests that when “users” are informed of surveillance capitalism’s backstage operations, they want protection, and they want a

> research over the past decade suggests that when “users” are informed of surveillance capitalism’s backstage operations, they want protection, and they want alternatives I'd love to hear more about said research. It's kinda my hunch, too, the refrain of "normal people don't care, only a vocal minority of techies do" doesn't really convince me, but I'm just going by rather spotty anecdotal evidence.

zaarn 7y ago
"normal people don't care" is likely a bit of a meme at this point; most people don't care because they do not know the extent of surveillance. People don't know about Google or Criteo tracking their every move despite the later publishing youtube videos on their channel explaining how exactly they track every centimeter of a customers movements (not joking on that) in the real world so they can offer related online ads, in store and once the customer has left. Facebook (the product not the company) is outright bleeding users since all the privacy scandals around it (granted, bleeding to Instagram and Whatsapp). People ultimately do care but G, F and Friends make very sure that people don't KNOW.
- krageon 7y ago
  > because they do not know the extent of surveillance In my experience saying "most people don't believe it even when told" is closer to the truth. To my mind, this is a logical consequence of broad-scale propaganda that decries anyone who says stuff like this as someone who has a tin-foil hat on. You can have solid proof from reputable sources for days, but with most people you will never break through this mental block.
  - borvel 7y ago
    Agree completely. Anything marginally unsettling uttered out of critical thought (or well-sourced material) is met with complete incredulousness. Anything to suggest sinister motives is laughed off. We are entering an age of mass hypnosis where people actually want to be asleep. Their world fits onto a 4 inch screen they carry everywhere, using a single finger to navigate it. They want to plug into the grid and never look away.

zaarn 7y ago

"normal people don't care" is likely a bit of a meme at this point; most people don't care because they do not know the extent of surveillance. People don't know about Google or Criteo tracking their every move despite the later publishing youtube videos on their channel explaining how exactly they track every centimeter of a customers movements (not joking on that) in the real world so they can offer related online ads, in store and once the customer has left. Facebook (the product not the company) is outright bleeding users since all the privacy scandals around it (granted, bleeding to Instagram and Whatsapp). People ultimately do care but G, F and Friends make very sure that people don't KNOW.

krageon 7y ago
> because they do not know the extent of surveillance In my experience saying "most people don't believe it even when told" is closer to the truth. To my mind, this is a logical consequence of broad-scale propaganda that decries anyone who says stuff like this as someone who has a tin-foil hat on. You can have solid proof from reputable sources for days, but with most people you will never break through this mental block.
- borvel 7y ago
  Agree completely. Anything marginally unsettling uttered out of critical thought (or well-sourced material) is met with complete incredulousness. Anything to suggest sinister motives is laughed off. We are entering an age of mass hypnosis where people actually want to be asleep. Their world fits onto a 4 inch screen they carry everywhere, using a single finger to navigate it. They want to plug into the grid and never look away.