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The internet as we know it would be just fine if we de-commercialized it. Most websites as we know it don't need to be riddled with ads, google fonts, social me

The internet as we know it would be just fine if we de-commercialized it. Most websites as we know it don't need to be riddled with ads, google fonts, social media trackers, analytics. "But how do we make money from it?" - if that's the first thought, then maybe it doesn't need to be there. I'd rather have the internet for sharing reliable information, not advertising. It was doing just fine before corporate marketing took it all over. We can win it back by stripping it down from the bloated mess that it has become.

xpe 6y ago
What are some alternatives you would suggest? Please incorporate these aspects: 1. Running a network and computers costs money. 2. Commercial forces seek out channels where attention exists. 3. There is an incentive for content providers to place ads. 4. (add your own factors)
- selfhoster11 6y ago
  Server hosting for smaller services is no longer expensive when cheap cloud servers and Raspberry Pi computers are available.
- jrnichols 6y ago
  1. not a factor for most. they're paying for web hosting already, and that's what is covering the network and computers. I'm talking about content. 2. don't use them. ads are not a requirement. they really aren't. 3. don't use them either. People used to make simple web pages because they had information to share. They did it because they enjoyed it. Now everything feels like "how can I monetize this?" We need to change our mindset. Does the internet exist to share information or is it just here now to make money from ads? I'm quite happy self-hosting. It may cost me $5/mo. I can afford that. I can also use a raspberry pi at home and simply proxy through Cloudflare. There. Not costing me much money at all, and I still don't need advertisements. Point is that we've let marketers take over and then tell us that the internet won't survive without them. It can, and it will. It needs to.
buildanduse 6y ago
I agree - HUGE problem is the monetization - the best models today are ad placement and job postings. What if we re-used all the other tech (or nearly all) and: a) ensured that infrastructure providers were paid in a market-economy that rewarded quantity of service in proportion to quality of service and b) gave a cut of proceeds to application sponsors? The Diode Network already implements these things - an answer to the broken systems of today's Internet. We can use the current Web2.0 to drive Web3 forward and allow this sort of "take back the Internet" to work at the local level while connecting globally with new systems that address the underlying problems.

xpe 6y ago

What are some alternatives you would suggest? Please incorporate these aspects: 1. Running a network and computers costs money. 2. Commercial forces seek out channels where attention exists. 3. There is an incentive for content providers to place ads. 4. (add your own factors)

selfhoster11 6y ago
Server hosting for smaller services is no longer expensive when cheap cloud servers and Raspberry Pi computers are available.
jrnichols 6y ago
1. not a factor for most. they're paying for web hosting already, and that's what is covering the network and computers. I'm talking about content. 2. don't use them. ads are not a requirement. they really aren't. 3. don't use them either. People used to make simple web pages because they had information to share. They did it because they enjoyed it. Now everything feels like "how can I monetize this?" We need to change our mindset. Does the internet exist to share information or is it just here now to make money from ads? I'm quite happy self-hosting. It may cost me $5/mo. I can afford that. I can also use a raspberry pi at home and simply proxy through Cloudflare. There. Not costing me much money at all, and I still don't need advertisements. Point is that we've let marketers take over and then tell us that the internet won't survive without them. It can, and it will. It needs to.

buildanduse 6y ago

I agree - HUGE problem is the monetization - the best models today are ad placement and job postings. What if we re-used all the other tech (or nearly all) and: a) ensured that infrastructure providers were paid in a market-economy that rewarded quantity of service in proportion to quality of service and b) gave a cut of proceeds to application sponsors? The Diode Network already implements these things - an answer to the broken systems of today's Internet. We can use the current Web2.0 to drive Web3 forward and allow this sort of "take back the Internet" to work at the local level while connecting globally with new systems that address the underlying problems.