John Harris

I have to admit, when I open a link on social media and hit a paywall, it redounds a bit upon the person who posted the link. Sometimes it's accidental sure, and I've done it too. If you're a subscriber it can be hard to even know if a link will send readers careening face-first into a paywall.

But it still hurts everyone who follows the link a little bit, to be promised information, interest or just some fun, and then the site says to them NUH-UH-UH, PAY FOR OUR WHOLE SITE BEFORE YOU SEE THAT! Basically tricking you into advertising for them.

I REALLY hate that web browsers enable this by obeying a site's directive to load the whole content but not letting the user see it with a blocking overlay, and Google now lets sites get away with providing their indexer the full content but not readers.

Mar 23 at 10:42amWeb
Show threadJohn Harris1d ago

In the old days, when a much higher percentage of internet users were knowledgeable, motivated and angry, this would be much more severely frowned upon. Reactions to sucky websites like these are why pop-up blockers are a thing.

It is true, some of this is musing for the "good old days," but truthfully things WERE much better in the early internet. It's absolutely not *all* nostalgia talking. And there's a general consensus. I've found, that the web has been getting much worse lately.

Then some jurisdictions try to solve the problem with legal means, with hugely mixed results, like the EU making the whole web more annoying with mandatory cookie notices. Regulation could well have a place here, but it needs to be a lot better thought out than just making the world suck more.

Show threadJohn Harris1d ago
One reason I'm getting louder about this sort of thing is that, as life creeps up on you, you come to realize that every frustration and annoyance is a theft, from you, of your limited time on this planet, from everything you actually like doing. I wish more people realized this.
Show threadJohn Harris1d ago
One reason I'm getting louder about this sort of thing is that, as life creeps up on you, you come to realize that every frustration and annoyance is a theft, from you, of your limited time on this planet, from everything you actually like doing. I wish more people realized this.
Show threadjuv3nal1d ago
@rodneylives icymi https://www.removepaywall.com/ doesn't always work but it often does
RemovePaywall | Free online paywall remover

Remove Paywall, free online paywall remover. Get access to articles without having to pay or login. Works on Bloomberg and hundreds more.

Show threadeirias1d ago
@rodneylives Yeah, web browsing these days feels like going for a nice walk but stepping on your own shoelaces every six to ten strides.
Show threadeirias1d ago
@rodneylives Also frustrating: even gift links don't actually work now, in that you have to register with the outlet to use them.