When it comes to internet experience, “the times are They are changingAs Bob Dylan said, “The Internet has changed now.” I can’t remember how it has changed, but the Internet certainly feels different these days.
For some, it is “There’s little fun or informationFor others, online searches areCookie cutters“Useful information is buried, scams, spam, artificial intelligence (AI).
Your social media feeds are inundated with a variety of content: eye-catching, provocative, targeted, and outrage-inducing. Weird AI-generated images Robotic comments. If your video feed doesn’t consist entirely of “subscribe” prompts, you’re in luck.
How did we get here? And can we ever get back to normal?
Commercial interests take precedence
One of the major contributing factors to the current state of the internet is its excessive commercialization. Much of the content is driven by financial incentives. This has led to a proliferation of sensationalism and a preference for virality over quality of information.
Hidden and deceptive advertising is rampant, blurring the lines between commercial and non-commercial content in an effort to gain more attention and interest.
Another driving force is the dominance of tech giants like Google, Meta and Amazon, which have billions of users around the world and enormous influence over the content we consume.
Their platforms use sophisticated tracking techniques and opaque algorithms to generate highly targeted media content based on vast amounts of user data. Filter bubbleUsers are exposed to limited content that reinforces existing beliefs and biases. Echo chambers Other viewpoints are actively discredited.
The malicious actor Cybercriminals and scammers It has been a problem online for many years, but advances in technologies such as generative AI have empowered counterfeiters to create highly realistic fake images, deepfake videos, and Voice Clone.
AI’s ability to automate content creation has resulted in low-quality, misleading and harmful content flooding the internet on an unprecedented scale.
In short, the increasing commercialization of the internet, the dominance of media tech giants, and the presence of bad actors are permeating content online. The rise of AI has only intensified this trend, making the internet more chaotic than it has ever been.
Some of the “good” internet remains
So what was the “good internet” that some of us miss so much?
In the beginning, the Internet was meant to be a free and equal space for people to “surf” and “browse.” Knowledge was meant to be shared. Sites like Wikipedia and the Internet Archive continue to serve as bastions of knowledge.
Before the advent of filter bubbles, the internet was a creative playground where people explored different ideas, debated different perspectives, and collaborated with “out-group” individuals – people with opposing views who were outside their own social circle.
Early social media platforms were built on the spirit of reconnecting with classmates and family members we hadn’t seen in a long time. Many of us have community groups, acquaintances, and family members that we keep in touch with via the internet. The “connection” aspect of the internet is more important than ever, as we have all seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemic.
What else would you want to protect? Privacy. As a 1993 New Yorker cartoon joked:No one on the internet knows you’re a dog“Everyone now wants to know who you are, especially advertisers. Office of the Australian Information CommissionerOne of the tenets of privacy is “being able to control who can see or use information about you.”
At the very least, we want control over what the big tech companies know about us, especially if they stand to profit from it.
Can it ever be restored?
We can’t control how things change, but we can preserve as many of the good parts as possible.
First, we can vote with our feet. Users can initiate change and bring awareness to problems in existing platforms. User exodus From X (formerly Twitter) to other platforms, Platform-wide outcry against Reddit To change third party data access policies.
But you can only vote with your feet if there is competition. In the case of X, a variety of platforms, from Mastodon to Threads to Bluesky, allow users to choose the one that suits their tastes, values and social circles. Even search engines have alternatives, such as DuckDuckGo and Ecosia.
But competition can only be created by moving to a decentralized system and eliminating monopolies, which is exactly what happened in the early days of the internet in the 1990s.”Browser WarsWhen Microsoft was finally accused of illegally monopolizing the web browser market, A landmark trial.
As users of technology, we must be constantly vigilant against threats to our privacy and knowledge. Cheap and ubiquitous generative AI makes misleading content and scams more real than ever.
We must exercise healthy skepticism and ensure that those most exposed to online threats, such as children and seniors, are educated about the potential harms.
Remember, the internet is not optimized for your profits. It’s up to you to decide how much power you give to the tech giants who are pushing their profits.
Mark ChongSenior Lecturer in Information Systems, School of Computing and Information Systems, Senior Research Fellow (Emeritus), Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne and Shin Won-soonAssociate Professor of Media and Communication Studies, University of Melbourne
This article is reprinted from conversation Published under a Creative Commons license. Original article.
