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I am mildly skeptical that disabling advertising will have the effect you worry about. Anecdotally, I am more likely to be charitable and curious about someone
by danShumway 6y ago
I am mildly skeptical that disabling advertising will have the effect you worry about.
Anecdotally, I am more likely to be charitable and curious about someone else's views if I'm not surrounded by a lot of appeals to emotion or party loyalty. Watching Republican/Democrat ads doesn't make me more sympathetic to either party, often it's the opposite. Get rid of all of the ads comparing Nancy Pelosi to the devil, and I'll be more likely to engage with the actual issues being discussed. Modern political advertising seems specifically designed to push me into more tribal attitudes.
I won't comment on banning things, but blocking political ads on a personal level may be healthy for at least some people. It's not exactly hard to find political arguments if you search for them. And if you do search for them, you're more likely to engage with people who actually know what they're talking about, instead of conspiracy theorists on Facebook.
It's the same attitude of, 'if you want to learn Javascript, there are better ways you can spend your time than reading random rants online about the death of the web.' If you want to learn conservatism/liberalism/socialism, there are better sources than a Facebook ad.