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Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web

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Re: Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web

#281

Post by Semaphor »

gowld wrote: post #199
DeusExMachina wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it’s easier to make money from videos because they people actually like them?

No, the videos are distracting and seize the user's attention for ad delivery. Imagine that I followed you around all day bumping into you, waiting for you to drop some money and then walk away without noticing, so I could pick it up. That's annoying and hostile to you, but profitable to be with sufficient automation. That's the modern commercial web.

We need to discern between unrelated videos for an article or the content being in the video. Because I know that many, many people prefer content in video form (I absolutely hate it and only watch them as a last resort).

Re: Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web

#282

Post by woogley »

coldtea wrote: post #276
blunte wrote: post #8

This is a good an informative essay. However, there's another element of "user-hostile" that I didn't see addressed (maybe I missed it in my haste?) -- that is the websites trying to control exactly how the content is consumed by the user. It seems increasingly that web content is being delivered in video form. That itself is hostile to some people. Some of us want the freedom to read (or scan quickly). But many of t…

> It seems increasingly that web content is being delivered in video form. That itself is hostile to some people. Some of us want the freedom to read (or scan quickly). But many of the providers of "content" know they have little to provide, so they drag it out in video form, saving the actual information for the last 10% of the video (if ever!) This I find incredibly hostile Isn't that a kind of entitlement? I might…

It's not entitlement, it's just an opinion. OP said they move on to a different source with their preferred format.

Re: Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web

#283

Post by hsod »

coldtea wrote: post #276
blunte wrote: post #8

This is a good an informative essay. However, there's another element of "user-hostile" that I didn't see addressed (maybe I missed it in my haste?) -- that is the websites trying to control exactly how the content is consumed by the user. It seems increasingly that web content is being delivered in video form. That itself is hostile to some people. Some of us want the freedom to read (or scan quickly). But many of t…

> It seems increasingly that web content is being delivered in video form. That itself is hostile to some people. Some of us want the freedom to read (or scan quickly). But many of the providers of "content" know they have little to provide, so they drag it out in video form, saving the actual information for the last 10% of the video (if ever!) This I find incredibly hostile Isn't that a kind of entitlement? I might…

Yes, I think we cross a line when we begin making demands about the content itself. If you want content created to your specifications, you can produce it yourself or pay someone else to do it.

Video content isn't "user hostile" any more than a movie you don't like is "user hostile".

Re: Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web

#284

Post by wtetzner »

insulanus wrote: post #180
wtetzner wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and i think they are more performance based now, but a lot of us left for Chrome and never looked back. And you don't have the same problem with Chrome? I've found Chrome to be a terrible resource hog lately, and sometimes I have to kill it to get my computer back to a usable state. And of course, I have to dig through all of the Chrome process and try to figure out which is the one that will take down the rest of…

> dig through all of the Chrome process and try to figure out which is the one that will take down the rest of them To kill: pkill "Chrome" To suspend: pkill -SIGSTOP "Chrome" To resume: pkill -SIGCONT "Chrome"

Thank you!

Re: Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web

#285

Post by chesimov »

jdavis703 wrote: post #253
baxtr wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. I simply hate sites with videos and no related text content/summary. I’ve noticed that especially news sites are increasingly employing this “feature”. I assume the main reason for this is that can force you to watch the 20-30s video ad. There is no way of avoiding it other than opening a new tab and doing something else for 30s... what a waste of life time

What would be a better solution for ensuring the video's producers continue to receive funding to make more videos?

Not to be facetious, but I'd really prefer there to be fewer drawn-out videos of the nature described in the posts above. The issue of payment for content is of course real though.

Re: Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web

#286

Post by akoncius »

fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #274
jdavis703 wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would be a better solution for ensuring the video's producers continue to receive funding to make more videos?

Mining cryptocurrencies while the current tab is in the foreground. (supposing a suitable GPU/ASIC-proof cryptocurrency is available)

sure and drain the whole battery on my smartphone/laptop while I watch that video? thanks but no thanks.

Re: Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web

#287

Post by giobox »

mattmanser wrote: post #238
giobox wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are exceptionally lucky then. As of several years ago, they autoplay in my and everyone I've seen using facebook's feed all the time, many (perhaps even most for some) of them are ads rather than friend posted content. Fortunately they appear to stay muted until selected, but it's still annoying none the less. This is both via the website and in app (iOS, I'm sure other platforms suffer the same).

There's an option to disable autoplay in the settings. https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=1020263...

Thanks for this, I was unaware, I suspect I am not alone!

Re: Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web

#288

Post by K0SM0S »

Alex3917 wrote: post #257
1_2__4 wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If video content would be so "hostile", it would have failed on its own already. People would flock to other places where they can read instead. That is not the slightest bit true and is in fact the entire basis for the conversation we’re having.

> That is not the slightest bit true and is in fact the entire basis for the conversation we’re having. Is it? The original article is talking about web tracking, the entire point of which is to give you more of whatever you like. Facebook just gives you more of whatever you click on, so if you're disappointed with the stuff you get on Facebook then probably you're just in denial about your own tastes or identity.

Agreed.

Anecdotal, but I recently managed to reorient my Facebook feed into a more "positive" light.

- I systematically un-followed sources of "negative" content (e.g. stupid, demeaning, cynical, deceptive/disingenuous, etc.) One strike, max two. This included some friends (repeated offenders - lol). No engagement whatsoever with these posts (no 'angry'/'sad' reaction, no display of comments).

- I liked/followed many "positive" pages/communities (notably authors, non-fiction books, self-help or growth-mindset).

- I made a point to like/comment/share "positive" posts and comments (e.g. clever, beautiful, grateful, fair, virtuous, etc.)

My main criteria was quality, above topic. E.g. bye-bye "petty" content even if it's "science" (which I like). I was quite selective, as it's easy to re-sub later.

I stayed unusually long on the site over a few days, to extensively clean/curate my feed.

Within a week, everything changed to suit my newfound tastes: basic feed is great, ads/sponsored content more relevant; it even seems there's been a positive shift in post sentiment selected from my contacts.

My Facebook feed is actually somewhat pleasant now. It fits my mindset of choice (away from the overly critical/cynical/negative individual I used to be in previous years). All it took is a little self-discipline and some manual curating (I've always refrained from liking too many sources, so there wasn't much to deal with).

Re: Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web

#289

Post by fiddlerwoaroof »

akoncius wrote: post #286
fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mining cryptocurrencies while the current tab is in the foreground. (supposing a suitable GPU/ASIC-proof cryptocurrency is available)

sure and drain the whole battery on my smartphone/laptop while I watch that video? thanks but no thanks.

The browser could throttle the cc mining based on your battery level/power state. In theory, your device could even mine while charging and then distribute the mined tokens later.

Re: Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web

#290

Post by anigbrowl »

hsod wrote: post #283
coldtea wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It seems increasingly that web content is being delivered in video form. That itself is hostile to some people. Some of us want the freedom to read (or scan quickly). But many of the providers of "content" know they have little to provide, so they drag it out in video form, saving the actual information for the last 10% of the video (if ever!) This I find incredibly hostile Isn't that a kind of entitlement? I might…

Yes, I think we cross a line when we begin making demands about the content itself. If you want content created to your specifications, you can produce it yourself or pay someone else to do it. Video content isn't "user hostile" any more than a movie you don't like is "user hostile".

Video that is deliberately structured to keep people watching without delivering much information is absolutely user hostile. That's why TV is full of shows with bullshit cliffhangers leading up to ad breaks and so on. Stringing users along in order to monetize the content is somewhat voluntary but easily tips into being exploitative.
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