The internet runs on ads.

Ad companies pay for all the “free” popular social media we use. Ad companies dictate to social media what their clients want their ads to be associated with, not associated with, and drive media of all kinds to push inflammatory and click-bait content that drives engagement and views. It’s why you indirectly can’t swear, talk about suicide, drugs, death, or violence. Sure, you technically can unless ToS prohibits it, but if companies tell their ad hosts they don’t want to be associated with someone talking about guns, the content discussing guns gets fewer ads, fewer ads = less revenue, low-revenue gets pushed to the bottom.

So lowbrow political rage bait, science denialism, and fake conspiracies drives people to interact and then gets pushed to the top because it gets ad revenue. Content that delves into critical thought and requires introspection or contemplation languishes.

Ads are destroying society because stupid and rage sells views.

  • wpb@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Couple of things that are either a definition, obvious, or directly observable in literally every capitalist nation in history:

    • the defining characteristic of capitalism is the private ownership of businesses
    • the ability to own a business can buy you influence on the electorate legally, through owning ad agencies, newspapers, think tanks, online influencers
    • owning a business can buy you influence on politicians legally, by hiring lobbyists, by threatening to take your business elsewhere, by promising politicians cushy jobs after their tenure, by contributing to their campaign through fundraisers, PACs, etc
    • this influence gives you the power to change laws and regulations to your benefit
    • in particular, it allows you to shape laws to benefit you financially, making the actions in point 2 and 3 easier to do
    • in particular, it allows you to get rid of laws restricting you to do the things in points 2 and 3
    • it is in the best interest of politicians to deregulate the latter parts of point 3
    • as such, a capitalist system where only parts or even none of point 2 and 3 are allowed, has a natural tendency towards a system where they are fully allowed

    Leaving all other economic systems aside for a moment*, the idea that this is not a direct and natural consequence of capitalism doesn’t seem to hold water, both on a theoretical and an empirical level.

    (*)And we do this because, analogously, arguing your right hand isn’t bleeding by saying your left hand is makes no sense. Capitalism can be studied in its own right. What’s more is that the number of alternative systems is infinite, and I’m sure lemmy has a character limit.

    • bearboiblake@pawb.social
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      1 day ago

      Yes, exactly, and if you continue in this same vein, fascism becomes inevitable, too. Capitalism really must be abolished.