I don't think the timing could ever be more right.

I'm a huge coffee drinker. Used to have a machine. It broke. Bend using an aeropress and French press for awhile and find that I really don't miss the machine.

My guy, there are entire countries controlled by Islamic Extremists where you're lucky if all they do is kill you when they find out you're LGBT, and it's entirely for "theological reasons."

I put this in quotes, because I'm not nor have I ever been a Muslim. But Islamic Extremists will kill gay people for supposed "theological reasons."

It's most definitely not just America doing it because "mah holy book says it's wrong."

"We have no idea what happens next."

I'm pretty sure there's a movie about this.

The last straw for me was that Amazon drivers always seem to have some kind of problem finding my apartment. So even though instructions say "leave at my door," it always ends up in Parcel Pending on the other side of my complex.

NOBODY ELSE has an issue finding my apartment: UPS, USPS, Uber Eats, even fucking Door Dash! But I might as well be living in the Bermuda Triangle to Amazon, so WTF was I paying for Prime for?

And honestly, like so many others, I've found it not even the least bit tempting to go back. Ebay has been a reliable alternative.

I heavily agree with this. If there's one thing I've learned about video games and gamers, it's that people who are happy with their games, are playing their games! The people who aren't happy, are going to Reddit and the forums to bitch and moan. The anti-"woke" crowd is fueled by outrage. And that's all it is: senseless outrage. There's no substance to it. Let them scream into the void until they tire themselves out.

Forget not working. It's not even that I want to not work. I just want to not struggle to survive. I don't want to have to work a gruelling 40 hours every goddamn week. I want to have the time to pursue other means of work, to contribute to society as a whole, not just to one, single company! Yeah, being able to have more time off would be great, but I don't want to not work, I want to be able to contribute in my own ways too. And I can't do that when I'm working 40 hours and still living fucking paycheck to paycheck.

I'm a Pluralistic individual. I believe everyone has a reason to believe. But I think the way someone believes is very telling about that person's personal values.

Ergo, I don't care what a person's religious beliefs are, I care what that person's values are. I believe that is a much more honest approach that doesn't needlessly alienate anyone or stoke petty, tribalistic behavior.

Terraria. Hands down. No other game I've ever played has had the same sheer amount of value for $10 fucking dollars.

A honorable mention would be Stellaris and good ol' Skyrim. But their larger price tag definitely means that Terraria is greater value.

I understand your frustration entirely. And for the most part, I agree with it. But for music producers, especially if they're indie, they have no choice. Content creators trying to make a living off of their art rely on putting themselves out there on the biggest platforms to maximize the amount of exposure they're going to get. The importance of social media with millions upon millions of users for an indie artist cannot be understated. It is the difference between them paying rent, and getting evicted.

As for the average user, as others have stated, they have friends, family, and content creators that they like to follow. Digital privacy comes at a cost. We cannot afford to create the misconception that acts protecting our digital privacy are free actions. And the level of cost and willingness to pay it varies from person to person. I don't need Facebook to keep up with my parents. But many people do. For their parents and the rest of their family and loved ones. I was willing to make the switch to Linux, but it cost me some simplicity in my gaming; some titles aren't just plug n play. Even ones that were on Windows. Switching to Lemmy was nothing for me, but for some people, they're giving up subreddits they loved, or they have to keep using Reddit to access them. And there are some valuable resources there.

Privacy isn't free. It's invaluable and sometimes the price tag reflects that.

So, if I understand correctly, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but the simplified version of this is: data collection allows massive cooperations to target Communities of Interest (CoI) and manipulate them by collectively altering their digital perception via a barrage of targeted advertisements, promoted articles and suggested social media posts?

And all of this leads to an eventual shift in the opinions and desires of said CoIs, leading to what the company would deem desirable behavior, be it growing apathetic to digital privacy, buying their product or growing more engaged with their platform?

Ever heard of "New Grounds?" They're basically about to recreate that place. Now all they need is a forum and it'll be complete!