Mastodon

That's very true too. I like the way Matthew Crawford talks about the Attention Economy and how we're essentially selling our attention to websites in return for "free" content.

I also think there's a real difference between actively sourcing information and mindlessly consuming it. Going to Netflix to specifically watch Black Mirror or Orange is the New Black is substantively different from opening Netflix and letting the algorithm suck away a few hours of your evening. Youtube tutorials are amazing and I've used them for all kinds of home, work and personal projects but it's also very easy to watch a bunch and feel like you know how to do something. I expect watching a really satisfying video of someone hand-cutting a dovetail joint between two pieces of wood releases a good chunk of the dopamine of actually doing it yourself, but it's not the same... not at all.