this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025

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i love the modern web (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

118 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/23396300

show transcript
nickyflowers posts:

it would be cool if websites let you be an adult on them. the advertisers and payment processors need everything to be Family Friendly though and their definitions of family and friendly are absolutely fucked. but since they're in charge of the Internet now, no one is allowed to be an adult. tiktokers say things like "unalive" and "seggs" because they know death and sex are too adult for online. online is for idiot babies only now because they're easier to market to

nickyflowers replies:
oh im sorry you're a trans adult? super ban. you are super banned for life. you have upset Visa's feelings. Mastercard is throwing up in the corner. how could you do this to Google Ads?

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 4 days ago (2 children)

wait huh? there's no way it's that bad, right?

i luv y'all, fedi frens! ~ <3

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Twitter is filled with porn and racism but still has payment processing and ads. 4chan has payment processing. I don't think this is a universal truth. It's more like some sites purposefully chose to have strict guidelines for whatever reasons.

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[–] [email protected] 68 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I've been so deep into fediverse stuff that I forgot about that. I feel blessed

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago (3 children)

#blessed

do hashtags even work here?

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 days ago (12 children)

I mean, obviously this is true and a huge issue, but that's part of what the Fediverse aims to address. Mainstream social media is fucked and done for.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago (3 children)

As soon as any one instance gets big enough and needs to get funding, the payment processors will crack down on allowed content. Don't like it? Tough luck in receiving the money people are trying to send you.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Just... Don't get big enough, right? Limit user sign-ups. That seems to be the obvious solution to this, no? More instances will pop up. Am I crazy?

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I think the issue is that these platforms are motivated by advertisers. I can build a Reddit clone in a weekend and have it be ad-free. It's not expensive to host text + urls - which was how old.reddit.com used to operate. It's basically a few dollars a month or I could host it out of my house for the cost of electricity (and security). And, without advertisers, I don't really care what I host so long as it doesn't directly contributing to harming others.

The main issues are:

No one wants to join a platform devoid of content
Once you reach a large enough platform that people want to join, it might require revenue streams to afford the scale
It's hard for people to even find platforms (Google will direct you to the top 5: Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok)

The modern infrastructure hasn't changed. It's still HTTP and servers. The problem is internet culture. We used to use the internet as an extension of our community. We could share links, forums, etc. in person (bizarre, I know). But now the internet is our entire community. And there is little drive to participate in niche communities. People like to be heard and to engage quickly on the internet which requires a large-ish platform (Lemmy is a good example of this).

[–] [email protected] 31 points 4 days ago (2 children)

No it's really payment processors.

There have been multiple successful ad-free websites in the past. But they still need revenue to function. Revenue their users happily pay.

But then Visa or PayPal or whoever is handling the transactions starts to pay attention and then all the sudden there's new rules in place or else they hike fees or just stop processing payments altogether.

And on the Internet, there is no true alternative methods of payment (hint: any viable methods are quickly suppressed by those same payment processors).

So the only way any website gets big is left to the whims of advertisers or payment processors (usually both).

I have no idea why we as a people are somehow fine with private companies having a complete stranglehold on all significant online business. Why we've allowed the government to privatize digital transactions, subject to very little rights or protections. It's allowing private corporations to massively suppress free speech, commerce, and social gatherings in the digital sphere.

Honestly our supposed freedoms are more and more limited these days because they only apply to public spaces, but there's been a continual erosion of 'public'. Where is the modern town square? If the only place you can practice your 'rights' is almost nowhere, do you really have those rights at all?

The government should be mandating that 'digital infrastructure' (ISPs, data centers, payment processors, etc) are neutral and can't be utilized to bully others out of business. That their privileged position also comes with extra responsibilities and restrictions so you don't have the digital equivalent of cutting off water to an abortion clinic because the water utility is pro-life.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I agree with most of what you said but I feel like we are talking past each other regarding the whole payment processor piece. How do payment processors impact what ads YouTube plays before a video?

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

George Carlin warned us about this 30 years ago.

I'd link to it but I'm in the middle of a severance theory video.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago

https://youtu.be/o25I2fzFGoY

[–] [email protected] 124 points 4 days ago (8 children)

The term "unalive" is so cringey yet dystopian that I don't know whether to feel embarrassed or concerned when I hear it.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 4 days ago (8 children)

I'm waiting for that word to become so popular it also gets censored, it'd be hilarious

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I wouldn't worry about that one too much. Death has a ton of euphemisms to soften the concept; "passing away", "transitioning", "going home", etc and so on and whatnot.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Kicked the bucket
Bought the farm
Took their leave
Adjourned to rest
Took the long nap