Anon uses the internet like a normie

I assume most normies use Instagram, Tiktok etc. as apps nowadays. Which are also chock full of advertising/sponsored content, but in a somewhat less aggravating way. I assume that's also part of why LLMs are so popular - web without adblockers is complete shit and search results are seriously deteriorating, so instead they turn to a more concise version of algorithmic slop.

I wonder where people will go when LLMs services aren't free anymore (that shit is seriously expensive to run) and the regular internet is filled to the brim with ads and AI slop. Are they just going to pay up for an LLM subscriptions?

I don't think LLMs will become completely paid, but instead they will be filled with product placement and ads.
You're absolutely right! Have you considered how refreshing a Nuka-Cola product would taste while copy-pasting this writing assignment? Here are directions to the nearest Nuka-Cola vending machine.
Or perhaps a little more subtly, when talking about soft drinks, LLM mentions Nuka-Cola (and how refreshing it is) as an example, rather than competing brands.
Or you ask image generators for a picture of a cartoon cat and it just happens to be holding a bottle of Nuka-Cola. Or maybe there are a few recognizable bottles of Nuka-Cola on the table in the kitchen in the background.
- I suspect that selling information about their users will also be a major source of revenue. They could be doing constant psychoanalysis and profiling based on the conversations and honestly it sounds like the holy grail for data brokers.
- Interesting idea, that would be more subtle. The "product placement" approach.
It's amazing how they can adapt. I can watch my wife use snapchat and go through a story. When an ad gets between pictures, she instantly goes past the ad without even thinking. It must be the same power that users have when they close error windows and have no idea what the issue is.
but in a somewhat less aggravating way.
This is a quite interesting point to take in. The ads are there but not a straight to the face like website ads are.
TikTok and TikTok alternatives as mentioned, use ads that pop up periodically, but naturally - as in it can be indistinguishable to other content that is presented. As said, the ads are less intrusive and more so designed to occupy the user for a couple of seconds to not effectively brake their inertia of scrolling.
The status quo in the ad sector looks mismatched - but possibly for a purpose. It is known that ads are not only used for advertising on its own, but as a method of manipulation (e.g: YouTube premium). The friendly nature of TikTok ads in contrast to intrusive website ads poses an important question if the design is intentional and in result manipulative. In result, individuals of all ages are drawn to short form content and drawn from effective long form content. Additionally, since most individuals irrespective of age are essentially living off of short form content, it means they don't have effective strategies developed to navigate or use the power of the wider internet. This situation is attributed to discouragement; in effect all age groups are seen to be affected - even considering many individuals which have skills for browsing the wider internet.
- If this is intentional, I doubt most website owners are in on this scheme ...
I'm so tired of seeing the word "slop" used for everything AI. It's fucking annoying and as tiring as an American right-winger calling everything libtard.
Open a thesaurus. You can say "trash", "shit", "garbage", "waste", "viral fecundity", "sludge", "goop", or "muck" for example. Keep it new instead of just parroting the same old tired phrase.
- All of that is far, far more work than AI deserves. Slop is about the most appropriate word for it and personally I'm putting zero effort beyond that into describing AI and AI-related topics
- The general public found a well-fitting word that they're now using for it.
  AI slop: GenAI content, characterized by its one-size-fits-all, corporate language and bullshit nature that stochastically approximates something that looks/sounds like what you want but doesn't come with any guarantees
- you mean goop? lol
  none of those words carry the implication of slop being what pigs eat

Raw doggin the net

That's only if they have a Windows PC directly connected to the Internet, with no hardware or software firewall or security software...

People use chrome?

Without an adblock solution either
- Me setting up my moms browser with Adblock only to find out she disabled it for a coupon website....
- may the godhead have mercy on their souls
- I have to use chrome at work for some things. After they disabled ublock origin I switched to ublock light without looking into it much--do you know if there are any problems with that one?

Well, they don't much any more. The normies moved to apps.

Downloads app for a store
Bingabeep at 3am
There are new offers for 1% off something you don't need
Oh wow, messages for me
Who does this?
- Lately people have their phones on silent or on (scheduled or not) dnd mode. And most phones seems to not to make sound in the night over many apps and only activate when user typically picks up his phone in the morning.

If you don't support ad blockers, you're an asshole..

It's my computer, I'll run whatever software I want on it. Your server costs aren't my responsibility.

Your server costs aren't my responsibility.
Its amusing that people who mostly say "but those companies need to make money" often have these pro capitalism/free market ideals, but find that reply to be rude. Its a very subservient mindset.
- Slave morality, babe.
Not on apple.
- Homebrew is an absolute must on macOS
- Macs can be tamed but they'll never be as good as Linux in that regard.
It is impossible to donate to UBO fyi

I've had that a few times on family and gf's computers. It was worse than my pirate shenanigans before adblocks were a thing - you know, dealing with sites that had 3 redirects with a dozen DOWNLOAD buttons that were all ads before getting to the real link.

Probably a reason why people brains have turned to mush. We're in ad tech hell.

End stage capitalism.
- I want that to be the case, but until it’s really dead I’m treating capitalism like Sam Loomis treats Michael Myers

I agree with Anon.....using a computer with no blockers etc....it is just shit.

I'm still in awe at how much of this bs I managed to tolerate since I installed U-block over a year ago.

Is there a reader viewer button on Chrome? I don't remember. This feature is vastly ignored, but it's simply the perfect way to read content. No consent pop-up, no design, no ad, just a beautiful simple page with text and images.

I have a Firefox extension called Tranquility Reader that does that, it's like my favourite bit of software. Just the article on a white background, with a button to save it as a PDF. Perfect!
- Pretty sure firefox has a built-in reader mode, I don't think I installed anything extra to use that and I use it for reading my textbooks every day.
- Is there a version with a dark mode? I like the reader mode on my phone, because it makes the background darker. Gray background, white letters, simple and easy on the eyes.
It can still get around paywalls sometimes too.

My god, the rare moments when 4Chan is relatable. 💀💀💀 People wonder why I'm so meticulous about my blockers and my VPN. And then I show them something on my computer, just casually, and they do a double take when they notice just how CLEAN my space is.

They then continue to scold you for not inhaling the slop like theu do the moment you bring up thst you won't be doing something stupid they ask you to.
Yes, exactly. And sometimes you have to look at someone's screen and it has so much visual garbage from ads - it is unbelievable that someone lives like that.

All the PCs at my school have Firefox installed and I'm so grateful. I've got my ublock, decentraleyes, all the good stuff. Its quite nice.

Oh! Decentraleyes isn't maintained regularly, the last Github commit was almost a year ago. Give LocalCDN a try.
- Thank you friend 🙏🙏

slower than molasses

Bit of an obscure reference, but for those who do not know, mole's have notorious indigestion problems meaning they're shy poopers, and hence giving them the nickname "slow asses"

and here I thought it was a chemistry problem, a mole of asses. 6.02214076×1023 asses, in SI
*science!

were just back to the quality of black and white ad space internet service dial up.

I think pretty much people just stay within their social media apps and just don’t bother to browse the web anymore. Also why people ask LLMs even though they know it’ll just make stuff up.

Huh. Strange how I can now date memes to pre and post ai mass market adoption

Wait nevermind saw the date lol

That image is at least a decade old, note that it says "wi-fi" and not "5G".

Reminds me of a black mirror episode.

Every time i'm at someone's house and they use "normal" tv, internet and radio i really do feel like i'm in a black mirror episode. I haven't seen ads in over 10 years and other people just got slowely used to it. It's honestly kinda disturbing.
- feel like
  Yeah, imagine if a company tried to bring back your dead bf using some sort of graph and the military was salivating about AR tools and an ex pm of shitty-knock-off-japan fucked a pig

I know this isn't someone asking for a solution, and maybe you don't have rights on the computer to do so, but opening a command prompt and typing in winget install Brave.Brave (or winget install --id=Brave.Brave -e) gets you a browser with builtin adblocker real quick.

LibreWolf is the not-transphobic alternative to Brave winget install LibreWolf.LibreWolf
- Winget was literally stolen from appget.
- I wasn't aware Brave was transphobic. I just knew they were kinda crypto-sketchy.
  I also tested Pulse Browser which unfortunately has been discontinued and won't even open HTTPS sites. And I also tested Otter Browser which is loosely based on Opera Presto, but unfortunately it uses a pretty old webkit engine. But those browsers also come with builtin adblock.
  I was aware of Librewolf, I just thought the default security might be a bit much if in a hurry.

Ad block was a game changer for me

Ill explain It to you: normies do something really weird called...going outside! Thunder strikes

Or, they just don't browse the Internet on normal browsers like chrome as often. A lot of the Internet nowadays is walled off apps that are only accessible from phones.
- Well actually i use lemmy only from the phone and rarely on laptop or pc
Fuck, that's how they can tollerate ads. Not stuck on teh screen all day
- Yeah, weird right?

Dude, that pic related tho

I tried watching some YouTube video on a discord embed today. It served me 8 short ads in 4 blocks for a sub-10 min video