#Corporate Internet

[virtueisdead]

i feel like a lot of people would benefit from what i did, being just deleting all apps that use algorithms and only using privacy frontends. like you can't use corporate apps and expect not to get subjected to the corporate ground spikes that are attempts at subliminal influence and surveillance marketing. you kinda just gotta make the call to get rid of it or get with it. and i know which one im picking

like i just stopped using any official youtube client because the algorithmic sludge is so insufferable. i just use newpipe and invidious because they just do what i fucking ask. search something? heres results. look at the feed? heres a chronological list of the latest uploads by every channel youre subscribed to. also have an extremely useful and simple download button and all sorts of other shit in the simplest easiest to use package ever. highly recommend stopping using platforms that algorithmically suggest AND deliver content. i would recommend either not using the former at all or keeping them strictly seperate.

[ebrithilbowser-blog]

So with dead internet theory increasingly becoming more true and parts of social media pages like facebook only consisting of bots posting AI generated content that only gets liked and commented on by bots, why don't we just cut that part of the internet off along with all of corporate internet and ads etc. so real people can once again use the rest of the internet as an actually social place like it was in the good old days? Sure, the AI part would still need a lot of energy, but thanks to advamcements in wetware computing and Elon's beloved Neuralink, we could cut energy cost by running the corporate internet on a network consisting of the brains of every billionaire in the world. This way they can live in their own illusionary dystopia that they can fill with ads and soulless content to the brim without bothering any real people. And we could place the whole thing on a starship and shoot it somewhere far away thanks to SpaceX.

As you can see, I have no real knowledge about the actual technology required for this, but I'm sure there are experts for that.

[smallseoagency]

The leading (ISP) Internet Service Provider in Mumbai Ring Networks, Offers internet connection Solutions for Individual Homes, Offices, and Companies.

[werewolf-kat]

I really want this video to get around. Hello Future Me is a wonderful channel for writers and other creatives - and has released this HUGE video that's worth going through the 2hrs.

I personally would love if this were a go-to video on AI generation and the serious ethical and legal issues it presents in its current mainstream state. Much like The Line Goes Up for NFTs that rightfully went viral a while ago.

[robotpussy]

"BREAKING: The Internet Archive has lost its appeal in Hachette v. Internet Archive, the long-running, closely watched copyright case over the scanning and lending of print library books. Full story to follow."

Internet Archive Responds to Appellate Opinion in Hachette v. Internet Archive

"We are disappointed in today’s opinion about the Internet Archive’s digital lending of books that are available electronically elsewhere. We are reviewing the court’s opinion and will continue to defend the rights of libraries to own, lend, and preserve books."

-Chris Freeland, director of library services

The Internet Archive has set up a petition to ask publishers to restore access to the 500,000+ books removed from their library.

[brattyratgirl]

This is a PSA to other goldfish enthusiasts.

Baby Goldfish contain 7.2 Oz compared to regular Goldfish containing only 6.6.

They cost the same, don’t get played.

Pls share with ur local goldfish enthusiasts 🙏

[techtimechronicles24]

🇺🇸 Back in the early 2000s, the America Online (AOL) Mobile Communicator was a groundbreaking device.

📲 Housed in its distinct pink bag, the device boasted a battery that expired in 2004 and came with those iconic AOL CDs offering 700 free hours of internet – a true blast from the past!

📟 Opening the device revealed the exceptional build quality typical of RIM products. It featured a built-in AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), allowing users to stay connected with friends and family through instant messaging.

📧 AIM was a key player in the messaging scene back then, making this device not just a communicator but a social hub.

[peachdoxie]

If there isn't already, there should be a term for when corporations make such radical changes to a social network/media website that it effectively destroys the culture(s) that grew there. Like all the changes to Livejournal that erased entire fandom communities with NSFW purges, and the worries that fanfiction.net is one day going to do the same. It happened to large parts of Tumblr when the porn ban happened in 2018, and we've been witnessing it happen with Twitter. Now Reddit is facing the same thing. As long as corporations own the websites and servers, the death of internet cultures is always going to be a phenomenon, and I think it deserves a name.

[rh0mbus0fruin]

game theory

[virtueisdead]

tumblr is the only corporate social im willing to use at this point, purely because of how vastly different it is from its contemporaries, structurally and culturally, but they're very clearly doing something that is quickly turning me away. for lack of less sensitive term, staff is practically gentrifying the platform. (forcing shit from other socials that tumblrs lack of were the only reason i still used it)

given i use spacehey daily, im sure youre already aware that im not a big fan of the contemporary concept of the "social media". i wont go on my whole pedantic/esoteric rant about distinguishing the definition of a social media and a social network because thats a whole other essay for another time and its not worth the argument given im already trying to discuss something else at the moment. (ive literally written a research paper about this because i seriously am that obnoxious about the subject)

so; one of the most substantial changes that happened to social websites in general over the past 2 decades was the introduction of algorithmic feeds. for those unaware, tumblr is in fact the very last major social platform that still doesnt operate (primarily) off of algorithmic content, and this is direly important to the continued use it receives from older bloggers. the majority of people who regularly use tumblr today and have for years are still here because it is the last bastion of chronological dashboards. this also plays a huge role in why theres such a dramatically different atmosphere on tumblr compared to other platforms.

reblogs are literally the only way that things can "go viral". posts do not ever spread if people dont actively decide "i want to share this with my friends" and hit the reblog button, as well if their friends dont think the same. whats especially important is that this system is entirely end-viewer-oriented; it does not particularly favor reactionary content like an algorithm does. on a platform like twitter, any kind of engagement at all (replies, likes, qrts, etc) will be taken by the algorithm as an indication that the post is likely to resonate with people in some way, regardless of whether the post in question is receiving positive or negative engagement, and regardless of whether or not it is thoughtful or warrants that- not to mention how this problem is even further exacerbated by the character limits on microblogging social media platforms like twitter.

so people love tumblr for the fact that posts that you wouldnt share with your friends simply will not garner any popularity most of the time. this fosters a far more unique and interesting community and types of viral content, but youll notice that a little while ago, tumblr quietly added the "for you" page. realistically, nobody who actually has used tumblr since before that tab was added would ever even touch it because it is a spit in the face of what makes people love the platform. but they they knew most people dont vocally give a shit like i do.

the first problem arises when you consider that new users from places like tiktok and twitter will naturally assume the tab was always there and likely use it as their primary means of discovery. they wont learn or understand the way that the proper system tumblr uses of follows and reblogs actually works, which is steadily creating an enormous and frankly insurmountable divide between new and old users of the platform. its already fostering the kinds of passive interaction from people who dont understand tumblr's mechanics that is honestly genuinely harmful to the community overall. people misusing the tools that the platform has due to not understanding their function or assuming similarity to things they already know from other platforms. honestly, this in itself would not even be that much of an issue because we could simply ignore the new users who refuse to make the effort to understand how to use the app and fall for the advertising trap that is the for you page...

but the problem is getting way bigger as tumblr is slowly but surely pushing the "for you" page onto other dashboards. youll see posts with a little "based on your likes" banner at the top crop up more and more. theyre quite literally trying to subtly force an algorithm into place where there wasnt one before. (ive been made aware you actually can turn this off from within an entirely seperate settings menu from the regular one that you open on the notifications screen for some reason?? the fact that i didnt even know this after using tumblr for this long is wild, but it doesnt invalidate my argument in that they turned it on automatically without asking or telling users) its not egregious enough to make me leave yet but its definitely been happening more and more frequently to the point that i am seriously doubting if i should consider continuing to use the website/app. this is the biggest structural issue, but its not the only example of what im talking about where tumblr is trying to pretend to be like other contemporary social medias in order to lure in new users without teaching them how things work so that they can use them as advertising guinea pigs.

another example would be the abrupt and frankly pointless introduction of tumblr live, which is entirely unnecessary and has received near unanimous criticism from older users. but a bigger one is something that a lot of people, especially newer users, mobile only users, or those straight other platforms have probably not even noticed- the completely silent removal of subdomain urls. (which is why people here call usernames urls in the first place) this one is way more apparent of an issue as far as my questionable use of the term 'gentrification' goes.

if i asked you the question "what is tumblr?" what would you say? more than likely, you would answer that its a social media- and to be clear, you would certainly not be incorrect in that assessment, but thats not the important part. as far as i can see, thats the first thing that comes to mind when they think of what tumblr "is" in its contemporary state. but if i asked somebody that a decade ago, they would likely give a completely different answer; they would say its a "blogging site". that's because fundamentally, that's what tumblr actually is and is supposed to be. a social blogging host platform. the dashboard and tumblr.com screen was always only half of it as far as the functionality went.

everyone used to have a personal website for their blogs, and people would often hook their tumblr blog up with its own custom domain as well. tumblr was first and foremost simply a blogging platform with social elements. while that subdomain (personal website) functionality does still exist, and you can see it on my blog because i customized my blog's css themes, they actually completely silently added a switch that gets rid of it, and they automatically turned it off for anyone that hadnt fully configured that page already which slowly consolidates everybody towards the exact same uniform tumblr-blog style like what you see on the mobile site. it forces a uniform visual aesthetic and functionality, which is one of the things i hate the most. in the first place, the enormous number of people who hadnt set up their page properly is largely because tumblr has for a few years now actively discouraged, hidden, or obfuscated the 'personal website' aspect of the service for whatever reason they may have using a method ill get into in a moment. it may be because they thought it was too convoluted for newer internet users who dont understand, or it may have been a more calculated effort to abandon older infrastructure and replace it with replicas of more contemporary systems like are used in other social medias, but it doesnt make a difference to me.

blogging is all about self-expression, and restricting that defeats the point so fucking hard. on the mobile app, my page will look something like this.

though this screenshot is taken on desktop. the url here is "https://www.tumblr.com/virtueisdead". this is an entirely separate and pretty recently added functionality called the profile view, which is entirely different from how the website used to operate, which is demonstrated for clearly by the fact that this is not what my blog is actually supposed to look like. in fact, you cant even see what blogs are supposed to look like on the mobile app at all. if you open your browser and go to my actual blog url, "https://virtueisdead.tumblr.com/", you can see the intended design, which is very similar to my spacehey profile.

im honestly not unconvinced that they intend to eventually completely distinguish the old blogging system (akin to wordpress and blogger) from the social media aspect of the site entirely, though thats more of a crack theory. the fact remains that they began to silently get rid of people's actual blog pages, slowly forcing uniformity with the mobile app. (this is less important, but another part of that that drives me up the fucking wall is that i cant even use the tumblr website in my main browser anymore. they made it so it only works in certain browsers, and im sure i dont need to explain why that is absolutely insufferable behavior)

tumblr is absolutely trying to mimic other social media platforms like tiktok and twitter in order to attract users from them or give them a more 'familiar experience' and its absolutely a detriment to the experience for people who use tumblr specifically because it isnt like other corporate social platforms. this is a separate gripe, but...

ive said before and will say again, twitter users should not look for an alternative to twitter, they should just stop fucking using it. thats like going from smoking a cigarette brand that uses slave labor to one that doesnt. youre a more ethical person but youre still giving yourself lung cancer.

[legbootlegit]

In unrelated news, the CEO of MGA Entertainment deleted his Twitter in 2020 after bullying a creator whose likeness they allegedly plagiarized for a toy

[genericpuff]

What is the “Wayback Machine” that you mentioned bey ??

The Wayback Machine is an archiving crawler tool designed and hosted by The Internet Archive to document sites throughout their lifetime. It's not 100% reliable as how often a site gets crawled typically comes down to how frequently it updates and / or how much it's visited (and it doesn't store images / videos as well as just general text), but it's often what I use for my own research and investigating when I need to access information that may no longer be available on live sites (like old blogs, galleries, news articles, etc.) It's definitely my go-to when I need to go on my rabbithole dives, for better and for worse LOL

[gawki]

Ai art fuck off

[kiraleighart]

me explaining how online works so y'all can be gay do crimes fuck corporate:

Business wants to flatten human-online engagement for business aims. This is the algorithm's prime function—not delivering you the content you want, when you want it.

So, the solution is to up the ante. Send backwash chaotic metrics. Do big loud gay throttle. You can literally choose to go against the online grain anytime you want.

Example: You love tea. OK. Identify indie tea brand that's super ethics. Put them on blast as hard possible online and in search. Get 5 friends (who get 5 friends) to do this. This helps them.

But also, bidnid ppl do competitive analysis. big shitty tea brand says "huh, why is trending?" big tea brand go "how can i do that. wait."

and if you picked the right indie tea brand, only logical answer for bigboi is "consumer like ethical tea. i...oops." and when big brand tries to only LOOK like tiny tea brand, you call bullshit no buy

you do not give social media signals to big bad mean tea brand. you screencap if you gotta and use asterisk or whatever. all the while, applying pressure to uplift cool indie tea brand and cool little guys like them.

this is legit how online commerce and digital analytics works.

1 person uplifting cool indie ethical brand becomes 2. then 10. then 100. then 1000. then 100,000 until big bidnid fucks have to go "and i oop." if they want market share, they will have to evolve or you will ignore them like an annoying bug.

pls prove to me that normies are able to grasp what im saying: you have all the power. you're just not using it.

[cathalbravecog]

scenecore misty back at it again!! + a speedpaint! :D

it wasn't meant to be a youtube link, but uploading the video file itself won't work, so apologies about that i know youtube links are annoying on tumblr please don't kill me </3

[haveyoureadthisfanfic]

Your pfp and banner look terrible. You have done a great job cosplaying a corporation during pride! /lh

Thank you so much! <3

Don't forget to buy my special gay merch!