4 ms·

Exchanging money for goods and services is the entire basis of the economy. Ads force people to pay with their attention span, which seems to have serious conse

Exchanging money for goods and services is the entire basis of the economy. Ads force people to pay with their attention span, which seems to have serious consequences - the user is suffering from attention deficit far more than an imagined lack of content.

paulcole 4y ago
Well if money isn’t exchanged for the service of content (in some way), the content eventually goes away. The lack of content stops being imaginary.
- immibis 4y ago
  Cool. Let me pay $20/month for an ad-free Internet (not just one site). I already have Youtube Premium.
  - paulcole 4y ago
    This is like saying "Cool. Let me pay $10,000 for a Ferrari. I already have a tricycle."
    - immibis 4y ago
      I suspect YouTube alone makes up the majority of my casual browsing data volume. You could even make it $100/month if you wanted.
- account42 4y ago
  That content is only ever produced out of monetary motivations is the biggest lie capitalism has sold us.
nkozyra 4y ago
> Exchanging money for goods and services is the entire basis of the economy. Sounds like advertising meets that description. It's a transaction of value - potential future customers via the service of advertising.
- arrosenberg 4y ago
  It does not. Attention is a limited good, not capital. Capital is capital.
  - nkozyra 4y ago
    You've changed your definition. Advertising is a service, it is fundamentally no different than any other service. We may find it annoying or distasteful, but it is a natural good from natural actors in a capitalist system.
    - arrosenberg 4y ago
      Subsidizing products with your attention span is not a natural thing in a capitalist system. What a ridiculous idea. Advertising is a service, it should be paid for with capital, not used as a subsidy or alternate form of payment.
      - nkozyra 4y ago
        > Subsidizing products with your attention span is not a natural thing in a capitalist system You're looking at the wrong thing as capital and the wrong thing as the service. The service is customer sourcing and the capital is literally capital. It is a very natural capitalist creation, self-evidently so.
        arrosenberg 4y ago
        I don't think I am. Internet users are not being fairly compensated for their data and unless you block the entire Facebook and Instagram namespaces, they track you whether or not you have consented. The platforms are acting like feudal landlords, not capitalists.
        nkozyra 4y ago
        First, I think you've simply identified a key feature of capitalism: exploitation of a resource. Second, the market has spoken. Some of us feel we're being exploited by having our data harvested for the transaction of advertising, but most do not.

paulcole 4y ago

Well if money isn’t exchanged for the service of content (in some way), the content eventually goes away. The lack of content stops being imaginary.

immibis 4y ago
Cool. Let me pay $20/month for an ad-free Internet (not just one site). I already have Youtube Premium.
- paulcole 4y ago
  This is like saying "Cool. Let me pay $10,000 for a Ferrari. I already have a tricycle."
  - immibis 4y ago
    I suspect YouTube alone makes up the majority of my casual browsing data volume. You could even make it $100/month if you wanted.
account42 4y ago
That content is only ever produced out of monetary motivations is the biggest lie capitalism has sold us.

nkozyra 4y ago

> Exchanging money for goods and services is the entire basis of the economy. Sounds like advertising meets that description. It's a transaction of value - potential future customers via the service of advertising.

arrosenberg 4y ago
It does not. Attention is a limited good, not capital. Capital is capital.
- nkozyra 4y ago
  You've changed your definition. Advertising is a service, it is fundamentally no different than any other service. We may find it annoying or distasteful, but it is a natural good from natural actors in a capitalist system.
  - arrosenberg 4y ago
    Subsidizing products with your attention span is not a natural thing in a capitalist system. What a ridiculous idea. Advertising is a service, it should be paid for with capital, not used as a subsidy or alternate form of payment.
    - nkozyra 4y ago
      > Subsidizing products with your attention span is not a natural thing in a capitalist system You're looking at the wrong thing as capital and the wrong thing as the service. The service is customer sourcing and the capital is literally capital. It is a very natural capitalist creation, self-evidently so.
      - arrosenberg 4y ago
        I don't think I am. Internet users are not being fairly compensated for their data and unless you block the entire Facebook and Instagram namespaces, they track you whether or not you have consented. The platforms are acting like feudal landlords, not capitalists.
        nkozyra 4y ago
        First, I think you've simply identified a key feature of capitalism: exploitation of a resource. Second, the market has spoken. Some of us feel we're being exploited by having our data harvested for the transaction of advertising, but most do not.