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1. OnlyLy+(OP)[view] [source] 2021-03-05 02:42:42
Recently I asked my non tech savvy mom if she wanted to join YouTube Premium with me under a family plan so that she doesn't have to see ads on her YouTube any more.

Her response was "No thank you. I like the ads. Sometimes I see things I like".

replies(2): >>rglull+T8 >>Hard_S+Vu
2. rglull+T8[view] [source] 2021-03-05 03:50:21
>>OnlyLy+(OP)
Ask her if she likes all the implications that comes with giving in to all the privacy invasion and manipulation that comes with those ads that she might like.

Ask her if she would give up on the ads that she sometimes likes if she learned that ad tech makes us addicted to our computers, more socially isolated, less likely to connect to our family and community, etc. IOW, ask her if she would trade the ads on Youtube for better quality time with her children and (potential?) grandchildren.

Giving in to ads because "some ads are nice" is no different to think that a diet based only on heavily processed foods are nice because "some of it taste good".

"The ads are annoying" is the last of the problem with the ad-based economy. People do become ad-blind after a while. The problem is all the tracking, profiling and the "eyeball-based website funding model".

replies(1): >>freebu+vf
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3. freebu+vf[view] [source] [discussion] 2021-03-05 04:45:00
>>rglull+T8
We were humans before this Internet-thing came to us. And it must adapt to our human ways of life. I'm now even more tempted to likening of the invention of Internet to when man discovered fire.

Anyway, back to the topic... Why are you assuming the user is not intelligent/capable of making an informed choice ? Most people by now (we are talking about Internet users after all here) already know the implications of these ads towards their privacy. Yet 9/10 times they will choose convenience over it.

You are also assuming that time spent on YouTube is eating on time they would (rather??) spend on their families. What if the user watches Youtube at night when the family is asleep?

On to advertising. Some ads are indeed useful, despite of their tracking-based nature. Some are informational. Some are non-intrusive at all. I can't tell you how many times I've taken up a promo (on products I already use) because of a simple ad.

Putting all ads on the same bandwagon hurts the players who just care about serving marketing info and nothing more.

Foregoing ad-funded products or even ads themselves is not a binary decision. We need to get away from this mentality.

replies(1): >>rglull+ai
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4. rglull+ai[view] [source] [discussion] 2021-03-05 05:10:07
>>freebu+vf
Which part of the "the ads are not the problem of the ad-funded economy" of my comment did you miss?

Do you want to have ads without tracking to fund the development of your service? Fine. Is that the case with Youtube?

replies(1): >>freebu+Vk
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5. freebu+Vk[view] [source] [discussion] 2021-03-05 05:35:47
>>rglull+ai
Good questions. These solutions are not up to me (as a user). Neither are they up to you (users like you). The majority of this space will make this decision for the products and by extension you if you use the product. Speaking for myself, I'll be waiting for the outcome on the other end with an adblocker. Doesn't mean I won't support projects that I care about.
6. Hard_S+Vu[view] [source] 2021-03-05 07:10:42
>>OnlyLy+(OP)
This is why I'm not going to bother with a Pi-Hole. For my girlfriend, half the things she likes to look at would disappear.

On a more positive note, I bought my 81 year-old Dad 'Mindf*ck: Inside Cambridge Analytica’s Plot to Break the World' for his birthday in January. He's so knocked out by it that he sends me PDF scans of certain pages. So probably the way to go is starting with a little covert education.

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