The evolution corporate owned websites like Cracked underwent from 2014-2016 is still absolutely insane to look back on, in real time you could see the shift to pure, bald faced propaganda, especially once Gamergate happened.
Cracked is what I keep thinking of as the best example of this, we go from a website that was mainly "here's interesting facts about various topics" to nothing but "here's what you should think about this political topic" and it was clear as day as it was happening and that was the shift every website went from, it went from facts and opinions to blatantly telling you what you should think.
The internet was one thing in 2013, then it became an entirely different thing by 2016, there's literally not a single corporate owned website with employee writers I bother to spend my time on, it's literally nothing but propaganda down to every single word.
I wish the internet stopped as it was back in 2010.
In some ways the internet was not as interesting in 2010 as it was in say 2006 or 2007, but it was still a lot better in 2010 than it is today.
As a side note, my entire life growing up, people always complained about "soulless corporations just wanting money". Well NOW you know what it looks like when money takes a back seat.
It's the same for me, all my life people used to bemoan "soulless corporations just wanting money" and it's hard to comprehend or even understand the meaning that there really is something worse than simple greed, it's really hard to take.
Greed is at least a more honest and a lot easier to understand, the attitudes we're dealing with today, like people cutting off parts of their own body just because they want, are so utterly
alien, greed is like a comforting old friend compared to that insanity.
And greedy corporations at least just wanted your money and were willing to give you something that made you happy in return for it, today it seems like corporations not only intentionally want you to be unhappy, they want you dead.
I guess what we're talking about is simply power, corporations already had all the money, so they got bored with that, now they want power, power over your mind, your body, your actions and power over whether you live or die.
