• hansolo@lemmy.today
    0·
    2 months ago

    People need to learn that just because you see an ad for something doesn’t mean you need to DO the thing. Take the time to learn who you are and then look at all these external things and ask yourself if you need this shit in your life. 95% of the time, the answer is no. If you’re confident in who you are as a human, you can pick and chose and neuter the things you want and avoid the ones you don’t.

    Besides the solid list from @HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world, use an Invidious front end. Even just search for a video on DDG and play it there.

  • wilfim@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    2 months ago

    Youtube shorts / short form content has driven me so mad that I’ve now deleted all social media, with only voyager to access lemmy. I actually couldn’t handle how shit it all is, which I kept going back to like a drug

    • x00z@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      There’s browser extensions/addons to block YouTube shorts. Combine it with SponsorBlock, DeArrow and a decent adblocker and YouTube becomes somewhat useable. The only thing you still notice is content creators wasting time and beating around the bush so they can abuse your watch time for ad money and better watch statistics.

  • HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 months ago

    Unlock Origin for browsers (mobile and desktop)

    NextDNS or PiHole (for everything)

    FOSS apps for ad free apps that do exactly what the ad-full and premium apps do but free

    And minimize usage of software that sells your data wherever possible

    Everyone needs to be doing these things. Corporations gaslight folks into thinking they need ads and your info to upkeep and improve their services, but it isn’t true. They pocket the revenue while making their products shittier and shittier.

    Don’t support shitty buisinesses

    • activistPnk@slrpnk.net
      0·
      2 months ago

      Strange to read your comment then notice that you are writing that from Cloudflare’s centralised walled garden. Not supporting corporate technofeudal shitholes entails staying outside of Cloudflare.

  • ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 months ago

    I work with a guy in his 70s who has gotten his credit card or bank card info stolen at least 5 times in the last year. He simply doesn’t have the digital education to identify a spam email or a scam call from a real one. It’s all just too overwhelming for him.

    • Digitalprimate@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      That will be us, sooner or later no matter how savvy we are now. The tech will keep up with the grift, but at some point we won’t be able to keep up with the tech.

      That midnight FaceTime from your daughter will look and sound just like her, and she’ll be calling from where she said she was going and her best friend will be there with her.

      • Jim East@slrpnk.netEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        And she will have recently found a job selling holographic magazine subscriptions…

      • ulterno@programming.devEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        The embedded brain chip will require you to think of your banking password for authentication and there will be popup thoughts from websites making you think of your password.

    • Lucky_777@lemmy.world
      0·
      2 months ago

      I got one call from the coast guard asking me if I had a package from Mexico coming in. He tried to sound aggressive and had an Indian accent. Total scam of course.

      I just was aggressive right back. Like have you opened the package? If so, what’s in it? Money? Cause I’ll take that! He keeps pressing me for what’s in the package. I said, you tell me. I’m sure you opened it already? Just hangs up. Believe nothing you get from a phone call and always verify multiple ways.

      • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
        0·
        2 months ago

        I got someone calling me midnight, trying to convince me she’s my daughter, and she needed me to send her money. I regret not making some name on the spot to waste the scammer’s time, but at the time I was genuinely worried some clueless girl was actually trying to call her dad. (I don’t have children, mind you.)

          • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
            0·
            2 months ago

            I believe they’re common here in Brazil. As well as fake kidnapping ones.

            …I wish those scammers worked as voice actors when dubbing anime. Seriously they put way more emotion on the calls than most dubbing groups here.

            • ghost_towels@sh.itjust.works
              0·
              2 months ago

              They’re happening here too, just read an article about some grandparents that got scammed out of $2000 CAD! I’m near Nanaimo BC.

  • FerretyFever0@fedia.io
    0·
    2 months ago

    Yeah, it’s not looking great right now. For spotify on pc I use blockify, which makes the ads silent and about one second long. It does just kind of break whenever this one ad tries to play, but you just have to reload the site. For the visual ads on pc, I use ublock origin, which works well. On mobile, I use this app called newpipe instead of youtube. Patreons and memberships are so that the creators get more money. Some of them need the money, some of them obviously don’t. Ai features and dogshit updates are everywhere, and I hate it. I don’t personally have any workarounds for them. Shows and movies can just be pirated using one of the sites on yarrlist and an adblocker. Only being able to play games with wifi, yeah, that’s pretty annoying. The account stuff sucks ass. Things are in fact, shit.

  • DeICEAmerica@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 months ago

    Who the actual fuck has ever clicked on an ad inhibiting you from watching the rest of the video you were enjoying? I will carry a grudge for businesses that hound me like that. Keep your fucking ads off my monitor. If I want to watch ads, I’ll tune into the Superbowl qYearly. This is why TV stations and ad executives were told to fuck off when the VCR was invented and released for consumer purchase and they tried to regulate them and make it so people could not FFW through ads and the SCOTUS had to settle it. This is the same shit different medium. If your advertisers don’ think they are getting a good bang for their buck, tough shit. Stop paying inane shitinfluencers so much money to further expedite the fast track to idiocracy and you wouldn’t need to rely on ad revenue.

    • FatVegan@leminal.space
      0·
      2 months ago

      There are a lot of people who just let it happen. Watching ads, clicking on ads accidentally and all that shit. If i see an ad on my screen i’d rather spend a day figuring out how i never have to see an ad again, than play their stupid little game.