sincerepost: i really, really hope that more tech journos start taking the time to write about digital ads/monetization without using hand-wavy bullshit as a crutch for the sake of a good narrative or an easy punch up against some creepy “surveillance capitalism” bullshit

when you take the time to break down the mechanics, this incredibly murky world becomes so much clearer for you, for readers, for regulators. you learn how ad fraud is p close to robbery. you learn how fb and google twist public perception to keep their biz model safe

i know this work is fundamentally important for those reasons but the half-assededness that’s abound in this space is just incredibly frustrating, esp when you’re reading it in a publication of note. and it makes me feel like a dope for caring this much

like these systems are fundamentally broken in part *bc* they’re so dense and confusing. untangling them is the only way we can change them for the better, i think

there’s def other people that take the time to break down this sort of stuff ( @ASankin + @sidneyfussell come to mind) but like.......... it’d be nice to have more than 3 dopes doing this dopey work

if there’s others pls pls tag them so i can follow/fawn over their stuff

idk if my standards are too high here, since that’s usually the case but like......... im tired of trying to reblog a basic ass piece of ad/privacy news and reading shit that’s either too vague to say anything of substance, or vague to the point that the thesis is *wrong*

i can’t strongarm ppl into caring about weedsy ass shit when we’re all stretched so thin but i really, really wish they would—even if i don’t call them out on twitter about their piece or w/e

idk ill probably delete this but like it’s getting so, so hard to write about why people should care about something when it’s always going to get buried in a narrative that favors narrative for fact