"And grandpa, what was great uncle vu4374fv18's fight?"

"He snarkily shitposted to the internet whenever someone cared about an issue that wasn't the most pressing societal issue at the time. Even if their profession brought them into closer proximity to one than the other."

Nope - we thought that wasn't quite needed since they were being set up as a public service, not a monetization platform.

We need a project like the Linux kernel, except for a good browser.

> What's wrong with advertising?

It is psychological warfare, conducted by corporations instead of States. But the objective is the same; trick you into changing your behavior to benefit them.

I am at a loss for alternatives, but I am skeptical about advertising. Not in a completely general sense, but what bothers me is that much of it is manipulative. It uses images, sounds and movies in certain progressions to influence me, sometimes in a covert or unconscious way. Now, certainly a lot of other communication efforts are aimed at persuasion, but then, you often have to consciously go and find them. It is easier to filter (I can choose not to visit the opinion pages of website or its comments section). Advertising on the other hand crawls into your life from all directions (billboards, video ads that suddenly start playing, popups, street vendors) and is sometimes impossible to avoid. Often it's slick but shallow. It's like, you enjoy eating good food but instead, everywhere you go, you are being force-fed hamburgers. I do not want an information diet that fills up my working memory, costs me energy, manipulates my emotions and yet leaves me unfulfilled.

It's psychlogical manipulation.

It uses your fears, your neuroses, your addictions and your need to remain involved and up to date against yourself as a way to extract your hard-earned resources and time.