[MD]

I can no longer perform a simple search without being inundated with websites that are overburdened with ads, marketing/sales pitches, top-heavy websites full of cookies and tracking, all aimed to steer me *away* from what I want and *into* what they want to sell me.

Irrelevancies!

I guess I'm too old for this shit...

Gimme a simple workstation with stand-alone non cloud-based software and leave me to my dotage!

/rant

[SeaGypsy]

Agree. This is one of about 6 aggregator sites I visit regularly, a couple of boat sites & an online herbarium & that's about it. The endless spammy crap everywhere is revolting as is the endless attempts at personalising advertising, just makes me pissed off at them for being so bloody intrusive besides guaranteeing I will not buy anything shoved in my face on such a basis.

[Newfie]

Ditto

[SeaGypsy]

I will mention my pet hate at the moment with webvertising is the proliferation of gambling scams. "Homeless man turns his last dollar into $16 million!" "Housewife shows how she makes $370 an hour from home & lives like a movie star!" All to suck stupid people into online casinos to be robbed blind. These ads seem to be showing up everywhere almost. Including what were once reputable news sites. Absolutely disgusting.

[Ibon]

I share this opinion and will take it a step further. The entire message of empowerment that lured us into cyber interactions is looking more and more like slavery every day. This insidious web is eclipsing organic life for more and more of humanity. It is a web actually more arachnid in character than anything else.

I am pretty close to abandoning my engagement in cyber interactions beyond what is necessary for running our business.

The content and delivery is shallow and mediocre.

[MD]

The content and delivery is shallow and mediocre.

Yes. And the saddest part? The younger generation seems to be oblivious to it, and in fact, embraces the mediocrity!

[Ibon]

The content and delivery is shallow and mediocre.

Yes. And the saddest part? The younger generation seems to be oblivious to it, and in fact, embraces the mediocrity!

The main prediction about the internet that turned out to be true is that it is transformative.
Transforming social interactions down to the mundane.

Here is something to ponder. In the beginning there was much talk about the digital divide and those left out of the web. Now a new question arises. What about all those rich and interesting lives of those who have left it behind? Their voices are no longer making contributions, they are increasingly residing in more creative places

The web is becoming more and more of a filter, reinforcing mediocrity. Those who demand more depth and content are increasingly leaving it and getting filtered out.

Slowly I am approaching the exit.

Here is an example of what the internet should be and is still for those that do wish for greater content. This is a taxonomy website where you can scan a rich data base of thousands of species of fauna. The link I will show here is one sub family of Lepidoptera. You can see all the genera on the left and you click on any image and it opens up a catalog of species within each genus. Researchers use this. Up at Mount Totumas I will catch an insect and go on this site and be able to draw from this rich database to identify a specimen. There is no advertisements on this site, no web pop ups. I treasure this site and similar ones like it. That is increasingly where I limit my web involvement. Otherwise I am quickly losing interest.

http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Ta ... taxid=4265

I am sad to say that our own site, once rich with analysis and diverse views is more and more resembling a tabloid in its content. It's a shame really and most who post trash no longer have the ability to self monitor and recognize their own mediocrity. It's a shame but it is what it is.

[Ibon]

I am going to go another step further to explain where it all went wrong. I am curious how many of you will even be able to follow what I will now explain. If you take the example of the bold systems website I linked to in my last post, this is truly an example of the original goal of the internet. Why? Well, this site is a tool that supports an organic endeavor. In this case you have a specimen that you catch in the field and this site helps you identify it. In other words, the site functions to enhance a tangible aspect of organic life.

Now instead of staying within this core function of enhancing the physical and organic the internet has increasingly been creating an alternative reality that eclipses instead of enhances organic life. Social interactions are increasingly cyber, the organic social interactions are being eclipsed. Instead of enhancing organic existence it is eclipsing it with a shallow alternative.

Even with the most core human functions; our sexuality for example. There are increasing studies on pronography causing erectile dysfunction in men. What is the core cause of this?
Well, I want you guys to all think a minute about the snarky way we often communicate. Behind this digital wall we can be assholes in the tone of how we share information to each other because we are not beholden to another organic human being, we are all cyber entities. If Ennui and Pstarr would suddenly meet in a cafe and look into each others eyes then the entire tone of their conversation would change.

With pornography we have the brain habituating itself with digital sexual imagery and it imprints very strongly on the arousal center of the brain. You get an erection over sexual imagery and with time it has to be more graphic and in many cases increasingly violent and kinky.

The erectile dysfunction happens when you actually meet a physical real partner who is real, with real organic smells and who is a separate being, not just an object. This is when the impotency kicks in. You have become habituated to a mediocre narcissistic sexual stimulation where the visual arousal is not another organic person but a two dimensional digital object.

Women are increasingly complaining that when they date men who have been hooked on pornography the men are increasingly desiring demeaning and often violent sexual acts and a partner who imitates what they are used to with on line pornography.

I use this sexual example because it represents a core human function and we can see how the internet has eclipsed it. Just like social interaction. Folks on their mobile devices are talking more to other cyber individuals. An organic real person is harder to communicate to often than a fellow narcissistic cyber entity.

This has become more and more the transformative nature of the internet.

How many of you can actually recognize what I am discussing here? Can you see it? It's happening all around us and getting worse every day.

Most are blind to this transformative process. Amazing really.

[AgentR11]

Not blind to it; but I have become comfortable with it. It is what it is; a few old grey haired folks leaving to sit on the porch won't change anything about it; and it will increasingly become the dominant aspect of people's lives.

It still can be used for the organic purposes you mention, but I think the transformation to a society that mostly engages online (and in quite vulgar/crass ways) is already a done deal. Even very poor people have smartphones and access to the net; market penetration is essentially complete.

[Ibon]

Not blind to it; but I have become comfortable with it. It will increasingly become the dominant aspect of people's lives.
market penetration is essentially complete.

I agree and you express a sentiment that reminds me of the Borg in Star Trek.....resistance is futile, you will be assimilated.

Are we slowly living in a dystopian sci-fi novel?

The addiction is so penetrative that I think an active detox movement has to be started. This is really toxic

[AgentR11]

Resistance *is* futile. But don't look for an aggressive counter response; simply expect it to be ignored. Much as the Borg essentially ignore the presence of any biological thing that is neither a threat, nor a useful acquisition.

[davep]

If you use Firefox, addons such as "ublock origin" are a Godsend for getting rid of all the ads as well as improving download speeds and reducing your "attack surface" for malware.

[Newfie]

Could it be possible that humanity has nothing important to say?

[Newfie]

I think this site is of some interest.

http://www.thegreeninterview.com

[yellowcanoe]

Traditional print media derived revenue from subscription fees as well as advertising. It's hard to carry this model over to the Web because most people are not willing to pay for a subscription to a news service and will only go to sites that are free. If advertising is the only revenue source I don't think we should be surprised that great efforts will be made to determine what interests you have so ads can be targeted to you personally and that in general advertising is much more "in your face" than it used to be.

Anecdotally, news content that I have paid a subscription fee for does appear to have substantially less advertising than your typical free news site.

[KaiserJeep]

Allow me to point out that the entire purpose of a network that allows free and unlimited access is to market products.

It is not there to amuse, divert, educate, or to inform you, or even to provide a means of communication. You have access to a privately owned network because it has been proven that you buy more stuff because of such access. When access to the web becomes a resource that must be rationed, those of you who buy the least will be excluded first, and then can buy a roll of postage stamps and some paper stationary. The US Post Office is mandated by the Constitution, and you do have a right to use that.

TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Buy something every week or two, or lose all web access forever. After all, they are continuously evaluating how much money your individual access makes for them. Stop buying stuff, and you'll get cut off.

[onlooker]

While I agree guys with your critiques of the Internet, I will play Devils Advocate and defend it to some degree. First, I do believe that the Internet does provide a most remarkable source of abundant info. One of course must be wise and utilize critical thinking skills to filter this info. Second, however superficial the social interactions they can be positive and mutually beneficial between people for example cancer groups and chatrooms offer timely information as well as emotional support. Also, I will say for whatever it is worth, that I am noticing much awareness now of the critical nature of humanities predicament here on Earth. I venture to say that without the Internet they're would be close to zero awareness of these issues. Oh and you forgot to mention another very negative aspect of the Web and that is scams and identity theft etc.

[KaiserJeep]

Environmental consciousness began to enter our lives in 1962 when Rachel Carson published Silent Spring.

But if you search out online information, you will learn a lesson about the Internet. I entered the search terms "carson silent spring" and this was the response at 9:42 AM Pacific Time, from San Jose, CA, USA:

1. The amazon.com sponsored link to buy the book in hardcover, paperback, soft cover, and electronic form.
2. A link that has been up since 2012, offering to sell you the 50th anniversary edition of the book, by http://www.rachelcarson.org.
3. The WikiPedia article on the book.
4. "The Story of Silent Spring" from http://www.nrdc.org.
5. "How 'Silent Spring' Ignited the Environmental Movement" from http://www.NYTimes.com.
6. "Silent Spring - Exhibition Overview | Environment & Society Portal" from http://www.environmentandsociety.org.
7. A second hit from web superstore http://www.amazon.com
8. A second hit from http://www.environmentandsociety.org.
9. "Silent Spring by Rachel Carson — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs ..." by http://www.goodreads.com.
10. "The Lies of Rachel Carson" by http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com, a 1992 article by Dr. J. Gordon Edwards, an entymologist.
11. "Rachel Carson's Deadly Fantasies" by http://www.forbes.com.
12. "Silent Spring turns 50: Biographer William Souder clears up myths ..." by Carson biographer William Souder.
...........

In order of popularity, in the first dozen hits we have:

1. Six offers to sell you the book. One of the six actually claims it will share revenue with the estate of Rachel Carson, the rest are pirates.
2. Three ".org" sites, two of which are indistinguishable from their ".com" brethren. Wikipedia is the other, claiming to be noncommercial, but including in the book article references over a dozen links to sites selling the book or related merchandise.
3. Two debunkers that are also selling their dissing of the book.
4. One biographer selling the Carson biography.

I read this book in the 1970s. You cannot understand the essence of what was said any other way than by reading it. Anything else short of that is you swallowing the book commentary by somebody else. I'd bet from the stuff I saw on those links that they were largely written by people who also never read the book itself.

Reality - what a concept. The stuff online is not reality, it is a virtual world whose real purpose is to sell things to you. If you ever for one moment forget this, you are deceiving yourself.

[Ibon]

Reality - what a concept. The stuff online is not reality, it is a virtual world whose real purpose is to sell things to you. If you ever for one moment forget this, you are deceiving yourself.

While true the far more insidious reality is the way it hijacks some of the deepest human needs for social contact taking place while you remain anominous behind a digital wall. Once mobile devices permitted you to take this with you as you move about in the world it only worsened.
Lots and lots of digital shallow noise, very little content, it moves culture in a direction that reinforces mediocrity. This was said about television 40 years ago but you didn't bring it with you and it was not interactive.

[Newfie]

two entertainment shows that got it pretty right were

The Marrix ignoring all the slomo fight crap. We are becoming so ensconced in the media we no longer know reality.

Star Trek - The Borg series. We are becoming much like the Borg, constantly connected to th hive.msharing emotions, always hyped to the immediate threat.

The Borg is possibly the more accurate representation of what we are becoming. Mindless beings protective of the hive, but no real understanding of our place in the universe, no evaluation of the bigger picture.

The Borg is really quite old, very precient. It was only yeas later I really got the relevance.