🐢 Keb Is adblock stealing? Do you use adblock? Why? Sure, advertisers don't have the right to your attention, but don't the content creators have the right to your financial support?

🗨️ Fui I not only use it, I find absolutely necessary for my overall well being. For me, treating this as an ethical dilemma is just another clever trick by advertisers to manipulate our emotions. So they want us to think we're doing wrong by not being exposed to not only unwanted but sometimes really unhealthy information? My mental health is of utmost importance. And if I truly need something, I'll go looking for it. Otherwise, no, they have no right to my attention.

🐢 Keb Yes, I agree the advertisers don't have a right to your attention. But what about the creators who depend on the ad revenue? Do you think they have a right to your financial support? I'm using YouTube as an example because there was a recent HN thread about it. IF you use adblock on YouTube, wouldn't it be more ethical if you at least pay for YouTube premium to help with server costs / support the content creators?

🗨️ Fui If you've been paying attention to the medium, you already know that no content creator relies on advertisers for their living. They rely, as they should, in their patrons (mostly through Patreon). And that's the kind of model I subscribe. Advertisers want us to they're the necessary middlemen. They're not.

🐢 Keb But what about all those one-off videos you watch? Do you subscribe to EVERY Patreon? And what if they don't have Patreons or Paypal or whatever

🗨️ Fui One off videos are just that, one off. If they were relying on one off viewers becoming eyeballs to make money, they're the ones with the moral failing, not me.

🐢 Keb It's not to say that they rely on their viewers to make money, only that they are deserving of your money. But you circumvented the system that would've ensured that they received compensation for you consuming their content.

🗨️ Fui I didn't circumvent the system: the system was broken in the first place. I'm not doing the wrong, but righting it up where it can be fixed (my end). Again: this is a matter of mental health and well being, something that no advertiser has the right to mess with (and they by trade do).