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I remember those days. There was a lot of optimism and a feeling of being powerful, especially things like watching the early days of Anonymous vs Scientology.
by na85 5y ago
I remember those days. There was a lot of optimism and a feeling of being powerful, especially things like watching the early days of Anonymous vs Scientology. The internet was supposed to be the great enabler of the masses, and instead assholes like Zuckerberg co-opted it to line their own pockets by selling us wholesale to advertisers.
In any case, I also remember reading TFDeclaration a year or two after it came out, and I feel the same way about it now as I did then: it kinda makes me cringe. Declare independence all you want, but to paraphrase the Warden of Shawshank Prison: Your ass belongs to somebody.
- developer93 5y agoZuckerberg didn't force anyone to join Facebook, this was all voluntary, we did it to ourselves
- hkt 5y agoFOMO and network effects are a powerful coupling though. And the social media companies have worked hard to ensure they're very hard to quit, too.
- Dracophoenix 5y agoSociety as whole, interest groups, governments, banks, retailers and their discounts, forums, HN, itself relies on FOMO and network effects. The only thing making it hard to quit is that value provided by FB as a address book to the individuals who use it is worth the trouble it causes. That's just economics. There's always a choice.
- tomjen3 5y agoAs I recalled it, he found himself with a bullet in the head, his life in ruins. My ass doesn't belong to anybody but me, but yeah there are people out there who wants it and quite a lot of people who want to tell me it belongs to them.
- na85 5y agoWell, my point is that your ass belongs to the government where you live. You can pretend to be a citizen of the internet but the police will still come after you in meat space.