The amount of spam and ads out there is ridiculous

[Fade]

I just need to vent.

You guys have no idea how much spam/ads/bots are out there. It's beyond ridiculous. It seems like every single day I'm doing something to combat bots that try to get in here. There's some that get through and manage to sign up but then I have to approve each account, and when I check it out, it's spam or suspect.

Between that and the amount of spam and especially the ads online now, I'm so done with this shit. It's not even funny. This is one of the reasons why I completely removed ads from ILL and also any references to third party crap like Google. This is not what the internet was supposed to be, and it's not what it used to be!

I encourage everyone here to minimize what you do online. Most of the internet is basically four websites now, and the rest is fluff. If you can ditch anything Google or Apple, do it. Fuck those guys. If you don't have an ad blocker, install uBlock Origin (although it might block the countdown beat battle clock on here, so just disable it on here).

And social media can fuck right off. I really don't even have to explain that one.

Anyway, I'm done venting. Share your own enshitification stories!

 

[OGBama]

I encourage everyone here to minimize what you do online

Yes!

Most of the internet is basically four websites now

Might wanna say most of the internet is porn, but what four websites?

And social media can fuck right off.

Say it louder!

 

[Fade]

This is what I'm talking about. The first reply is a bot! Unbelievable.

 

[OGBama]

I'm sick of ya @Fade thinking I'm a God damned bot. Still dig the community vibe here though.

 

[Fade]

I'm sick of ya @Fade thinking I'm a God damned bot. Still dig the community vibe here though.

Typical chatGPT prompt!

 

[Leopard Cohen]

And the super frustrating part is that it didn't have to be this way.
Being online in the late 90s and early 2000s, there was so much potential - peeps who know, know - there was a vibe, it was optimistic, you could find stuff, you could connect with people, no niche was too small for the long tail of the web.
Things are supposed to get better, not worse.

Wonder why most government IT systems are garbage?
It's because the people who regulate tech don't understand tech, and rather than looking to neutral groups like the EFF for guidance, they let the tech bros self-regulate.
That's why, if you're a typical user, you're stuck with an operating system that tries to sell you shit, web search that ignores search terms because they're trying to sell you shit, walled garden mobile apps because (seeing a trend here?) they want to sell you shit, etc.

And it's all by design - this was a choice that people in power made, because fuck knowledge and community, pay me.

 

[Fade]

And the super frustrating part is that it didn't have to be this way.
Being online in the late 90s and early 2000s, there was so much potential - peeps who know, know - there was a vibe, it was optimistic, you could find stuff, you could connect with people, no niche was too small for the long tail of the web.
Things are supposed to get better, not worse.

Wonder why most government IT systems are garbage?
It's because the people who regulate tech don't understand tech, and rather than looking to neutral groups like the EFF for guidance, they let the tech bros self-regulate.
That's why, if you're a typical user, you're stuck with an operating system that tries to sell you shit, web search that ignores search terms because they're trying to sell you shit, walled garden mobile apps because (seeing a trend here?) they want to sell you shit, etc.

And it's all by design - this was a choice that people in power made, because fuck knowledge and community, pay me.

What obviously happened is that people just started using it the wrong way. I remember being able to order something online in 1998, which I thought was great, but it wasn't going to replace how I shopped. It was just an extra way I could buy something I was looking for. I never imagined that shopping online would literally put physical stores out of business!

I was always using the internet as a tool, like when I wanted to look something up, or to just explore and find sites of things I was interested in. But once some people started to get the idea to turn it into a giant store, then into a "social" place, everything tanked. That's when the government stepped in and started trying to regulate everything.

So this is where we are now and it's just a pile of shit. Sure, there are still some sites that are good to go to (like ILL), but nothing is the same. In fact, any sites still around are most likely a shell of its former self.

I recently asked someone, what if you took away news sites, sports sites, and social media - what sites would you go to? And right there that tells you how bad things are because that eliminates all the big sites out there, and there's no small blogs or forums around anymore (pretty much).

 

[Iron Keys]

You mean... Lonely honey Fades aren't in my area looking for sex??

 

[Earsblower]

Man can't agree more with everything said here. I was "blessed" to have internet back in like 1995 or close to that at home and it was just that, very small forums where ppl were talking and sharing knowledge and stuff. I was using Netscape, Yahoo and Download.com for games and softwares. Then porn appeared. Then mIRC appeared. Then ICQ appeared... Shit went down fast after that.

Today we have Hawk Tuah...

 

[Fade]

Man can't agree more with everything said here. I was "blessed" to have internet back in like 1995 or close to that at home and it was just that, very small forums where ppl were talking and sharing knowledge and stuff. I was using Netscape, Yahoo and Download.com for games and softwares. Then porn appeared. Then mIRC appeared. Then ICQ appeared... Shit went down fast after that.

Today we have Hawk Tuah...

The Hawk Tuah things blows my mind. But people love stupid, so here we are.

When porn sites popped up it was basically just pictures and that was great. Then it started to grow and get bigger into something nasty. Now it's all about prolapsed anuses and cross-eyed orgasms.

What was great was all the small websites. People that started a "personal web page" for whatever they were into. You could stumble onto something like Bob's Cheese and Wine Page, and it was some guy named Bob talking about the best pairing. Hell, my first page was DJ Fade's Scratch Site. Fun times. People made these pages for fun and that was it. There was never any intention in making money from it, and we posted not knowing or caring if anyone was actually visiting the site. Now everywhere you go someone is trying to sell you a dream/product/book/etc.

 

[Earsblower]

The Hawk Tuah things blows my mind. But people love stupid, so here we are.

When porn sites popped up it was basically just pictures and that was great. Then it started to grow and get bigger into something nasty. Now it's all about prolapsed anuses and cross-eyed orgasms.

What was great was all the small websites. People that started a "personal web page" for whatever they were into. You could stumble onto something like Bob's Cheese and Wine Page, and it was some guy named Bob talking about the best pairing. Hell, my first page was DJ Fade's Scratch Site. Fun times. People made these pages for fun and that was it. There was never any intention in making money from it, and we posted not knowing or caring if anyone was actually visiting the site. Now everywhere you go someone is trying to sell you a dream/product/book/etc.

Yeah thankfully I never fell for any of these crap and wished no one would but I see older and/or vulnerable people falling so easily for the 'dream' it's sadening...

At least I was able to enlarge my Pepe !

 

[2GooD Productions]

I just need to vent.

You guys have no idea how much spam/ads/bots are out there. It's beyond ridiculous. It seems like every single day I'm doing something to combat bots that try to get in here. There's some that get through and manage to sign up but then I have to approve each account, and when I check it out, it's spam or suspect.

Between that and the amount of spam and especially the ads online now, I'm so done with this shit. It's not even funny. This is one of the reasons why I completely removed ads from ILL and also any references to third party crap like Google. This is not what the internet was supposed to be, and it's not what it used to be!

I encourage everyone here to minimize what you do online. Most of the internet is basically four websites now, and the rest is fluff. If you can ditch anything Google or Apple, do it. Fuck those guys. If you don't have an ad blocker, install uBlock Origin (although it might block the countdown beat battle clock on here, so just disable it on here).

And social media can fuck right off. I really don't even have to explain that one.

Anyway, I'm done venting. Share your own enshitification stories!

You are starting to sound like me bro

 

[2GooD Productions]

We have become entitled, lazy.and ignorant. In the digital.age where the world's information is right at your finger tips, people choose ignorance, hate and division instead.