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I don't understand the obsession with Meta and ads here, because it seems so disproportionally overblown when compared with real issues. Ads are so much the lea

by throw20231129 3y ago

I don't understand the obsession with Meta and ads here, because it seems so disproportionally overblown when compared with real issues. Ads are so much the least of our worries that I'm not sure what this fight means in the context of this dystopian century. Autistic escapism? A distraction?

93po 3y ago
Just because there are bigger fish to fry doesn’t mean people shouldn’t pay attention to this
dylan604 3y ago
ads are what fund these people
d8c6c050cb0a4d7 3y ago
This fight is being taken up by a privacy group noyb. It is not necessarily against Meta directly, but against all websites that attempt to force consent for tracking. Noyb is looking to set a precedent. Meta is the biggest company doing this, and so a win here would send the message of 'If Meta can not defend this, then a smaller website definitely can not defend this'. Noyb has been known in the past to create mass filings against companies that have a clear, well defined breach of privacy. As to if there are bigger fights to fight. Probably. But noyb has chosen to fight this fight, and I think that is fine. Someone else will have to pick up the other fights.
blackbear_ 3y ago
To maximize revenue you need to maximize the number of ads people see. To maximize the number of ads people see, you maximize the amount of time people spend on the platform. To maximize the time people spend on the platform you need highly engaging content. The cheapest form of highly engaging content is mostly composted of clickbaits, polarizing news, disinformation, conspiracy theories, etc. And when people spend most of their time with this kind of content, they tend to lose the ability to engage with serious, thoughtful, reasoned, informed, and nuanced content, first because it's hard to find and second because it requires genuine effort to consume.

93po 3y ago

Just because there are bigger fish to fry doesn’t mean people shouldn’t pay attention to this

dylan604 3y ago

ads are what fund these people

d8c6c050cb0a4d7 3y ago

This fight is being taken up by a privacy group noyb. It is not necessarily against Meta directly, but against all websites that attempt to force consent for tracking. Noyb is looking to set a precedent. Meta is the biggest company doing this, and so a win here would send the message of 'If Meta can not defend this, then a smaller website definitely can not defend this'. Noyb has been known in the past to create mass filings against companies that have a clear, well defined breach of privacy. As to if there are bigger fights to fight. Probably. But noyb has chosen to fight this fight, and I think that is fine. Someone else will have to pick up the other fights.

blackbear_ 3y ago

To maximize revenue you need to maximize the number of ads people see. To maximize the number of ads people see, you maximize the amount of time people spend on the platform. To maximize the time people spend on the platform you need highly engaging content. The cheapest form of highly engaging content is mostly composted of clickbaits, polarizing news, disinformation, conspiracy theories, etc. And when people spend most of their time with this kind of content, they tend to lose the ability to engage with serious, thoughtful, reasoned, informed, and nuanced content, first because it's hard to find and second because it requires genuine effort to consume.