[awak3ning]

threeseed, I do not believe that you have an accurate mental model of the world or technology and social platforms in particular.

It could be argued that "the web is as open and free as it ever has been", but I do not think this argument could be made honestly. Even though many of the mechanisms for accessing websites exist as they did many years ago, the "surface area" of the internet that most people are able to discover and access is significantly reduced due to search engine algorithms (which are monopolies) and advertisement allowing individuals to pay for traffic and attention. Moreover, in the present moment we are near a peak level of intrusive data collection and surveillance.

Do you truly believe that the web for the average user in 2020 is as free as the web for the average user in 2000? Please give it some thought (15-30 minutes of quiet reflection) and let me know what you think.

[bjustin]

>the "surface area" of the internet that most people are able to discover and access is significantly reduced due to search engine algorithms

On the contrary, Facebook promoting incendiary content because people (angrily) highly engage with it vastly increases the surface area of the internet. Fringe sites get much more attention than they ever could before Facebook existed.