Genuine question as I’m having a dilemma.

I’ve seen many of my friends using Chrome without any ad blockers. Most of them don’t even know that there are things called extensions that can be installed. Whenever I use their laptops, I want to throw them away. I want to tell them about extensions and ad blockers.

But as much as we hate ads, they fuel the internet. Without them, the internet wouldn’t be what it is today. If ad blocker users increase, there would be a massive change in the web, and everything may be paywalled.

So should we gatekeep ad blockers and enjoy an ad-free internet as a minority? It’s not like they know what they’re missing.

I advocate for FOSS, though. I will tell my friends to try Linux and dual-boot it, and suggest alternatives.

  • kbal@fedia.io
    41·
    4 months ago

    I’m old enough to have seen the Internet without ads. It was better.

    • wuphysics87
      1·
      4 months ago

      Remember having a toolbar for your toolbar’s toolbar? It was a simple, more innocent time.

      • macniel@feddit.org
        1·
        4 months ago

        Don’t forget ActiveX Objects which could run code outside your browser, and for some strange reason was required for windows update to function.