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mechamicro

Re:Fewer Than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click on Tuesday August 13, 2019 @06:51PM (#20691068)
There does seem to be a sizeable number of people who take any request on a webpage as a command, and comply with the email popup. Which would then generate leads.

But, this popup harassment is just going to turn away experienced users. Many of whom will be the educated, well-compensated demographic the site most wants to cultivate. And a subset of that group will have the ability to create or edit blockers, which will then be turned against the offending site. Thus making it more difficult for that company to reach the more desirable users.

That's what I would tell marketing. That wouldn't work for all companies. Some will be thrilled to get a boatload of inexperienced or naive users. But would be nice if the others would start to get worried about what they're losing with their bounce rate.

Re:Fewer Than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click on Tuesday August 13, 2019 @06:45PM (#20691027)
That's a great idea. I'll try that next time. My version of petty revenge is to sign up with one of my throwaway Gmail accounts, and then mark them as spam as soon as the first newsletter rolls in. Hopefully, there's others doing the same and they'll be at least partially blacklisted.
I think you misunderstood what I wrote. I was describing how de-platforming by private companies would weaken them while not making them substantially harder to monitor.

Of course, they still have their constitutional rights of speech and assembly. But without the signal boost provided by private companies, they'll be in a far weaker position.

Maybe there will be less monitoring. But with a lack of easily available places to congregate, the assholes will find it much more difficult to recruit, organize, and build their organization. This stagnates or reduces their membership numbers.

Also, it sends a great signal to anyone who might think of joining: that this ideology is so terrible that it's being chased off of the internet. That even the hands-off companies like Reddit and Cloudflare are rejecting it.

Sure, there will be a few who are attracted to it because it is so reviled, but many more will be repulsed. There's a reason why the hate groups did everything they could to be more appealing to the mainstream. Being forced back into the underground essentially means defeat.

As far as monitoring goes, I don't think it will make much of an impact. These are not difficult groups to infiltrate. Generally speaking, they're not the best and the brightest. Their opsec is poor. Activist groups have infiltrated many of them and have posted the discord transcripts. I'm sure the FBI, and other organizations, have gone even further than that.

Re:Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes on Sunday February 24, 2019 @05:38PM (#19241091)
Chickens will probably stick around. A German company has discovered a way to determine a chick's gender while still in the egg. That will end the cruel practice of tossing male chicks into a grinder. And will allow cruelty free eggs to be produced. As long as the hens have space, comfortable quarters, and allowed to keep living in those conditions after they stop laying.

For those who are vegan for purely ethical reasons, this will allow them to have eggs.