The proverb runs:
"Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird."
-yet for the most part we are not as clever as a bird.
***
To paraphrase some one much wiser than I:
"If service on the internet is free, you are likely the product being sold."
***
The problem with the internet is not Facebook, Twitter, or Google. The problem is not liberal media bias or right-wing misinformation. The problem is not corporate censorship or hands off governance.
The problem is each of us.
We want to be acknowledged and liked. Some trolls thrive mostly on conflict, but always on acknowledgement or validation.
Facebook (and others) figured out how to exploit normal human psychological responses. (Anyone remember Maslow's hierarchy?) They make the most addictive brew of the posts of friends and acquaintances. They monetize our screen-time on their respective platforms. So the content is optimized to draw us in. It is to morality and reason as refined sugar is to normal food.
Our problem is that we respond, we participate for a billion different reasons, yet we respond. Individually as unpredictable as atoms, yet corporately we are as controllable as the temperature of a teapot.
***
The answer to the internet of cancel-culture, hoaxes, twitter-mobs is the diffuse internet. Avoid services that pander to your prejudices. Test to see if what you have searched/watched/discussed becomes noticeable in advertisements. If it does change platforms. Change browsers. Use smaller services. If you must maintain contact with that special whomever, use a telephone, email, other services.... Find smaller servers and services. Make your services discreet, and your acquaintances and curiosity broad.
If you are technically capable, stand up your own server. If not, do what you can in the least encumbered manner. Avoid monocultures.
Further ideas accepted below for consideration.
