I have been a part of the internet since the dinosaurs were on earth, well seriously I have been part of what the internet is about since the end of the 1980’s with a modem and BBS’. I have watched all the fads come and go, and in 2024 I have noticed one simple thing that ruins the internet for the vast majority and it is simple. It is GREED. Everybody wants something for nothing, or to sell themselves for something and make money any way they can. From click bait articles that take you to websites with a trillion ads, to subscription services that were ad free to now being riddled, this greed is ruining everything. Facebook is riddled with ads, they sell your data 20 times over and community standards and blocking means that people spend more time blocking rivals and trying to make themselves more money than they do actually getting on with life. It is sometimes pathetic to see what has happened… I spend considerable amounts of time with people who have lost control of accounts, been hacked or just had their accounts cloned for monetary purposes and it is really becoming a joke. Meta seems to have their heads in the sand because they are still making money from these things and they just throw enough lawyers at things that they get caught up for years and they look worse and worse, but continue to make money. I am not hopeful that it will get any better either, I mean look at Google whose search engine is now just an exercise in pointless ai stuff that often is plain wrong. The sad part is that ai is the only growth area for many so every man and his dog is throwing cash at it. It is very sad, but for me, the internet in general is on a massive downward trajectory, and many people are thinking exactly the same thing. I hope we can see some more transparent companies and some improvements once this ai fad wears off!
