I no longer enjoy browsing the internet.
It’s not that I’ve become a digital curmudgeon or that I’m being nostalgic without reason. It’s that every time I try to do something as basic as reading an article, I end up navigating through a minefield of interruptions.
Yesterday I saw an interesting article on Instagram, so I decided to click through to read it. Upon entering the site, I was immediately greeted with “Accept our 847 cookies or manually configure each one”. Fine, I accept everything because I want to read, not become a privacy lawyer.
The article appears and I start reading the first paragraph when suddenly “Subscribe to our newsletter!” covers half my screen. I close it and continue reading, but in the second paragraph “Allow notifications?” pops up. No thanks. By the third paragraph, a video starts auto-playing about something completely different from the article, so I pause it.
Fourth paragraph: “Sign in to continue reading”.
I close the tab. Open another article from another site. Same problem. Different order.
It’s Not Just Nostalgia
I remember when the web was people sharing things because they enjoyed sharing. Personal blogs with terrible designs but honest content. Hobby sites created by people who actually knew their subject matter.
Now everything is designed to extract every penny from my digital existence. Every click, every scroll, every second of attention monetized to exhaustion.
Articles are written to appear on Google, not to answer your question. 2,500 words to explain something that needed 3 paragraphs. But of course, SEO says more words equals better ranking.
I Understand They Need to Make Money
Look, I get it perfectly. Sites need revenue. But the experience has become hostile.
Every site seems designed under the premise that I’m a fool who needs to be manipulated into doing what they want. Microscopic “No thanks” buttons. Pre-checked checkboxes. Pop-ups that appear just when you’re about to click something else.
It’s as if they’ve forgotten there’s a real person on the other side.
What Really Bothers Me
It’s not just advertising. Advertising has always existed. It’s that every interaction is designed to benefit them, not to help me.
Want to read an article? First I must navigate through 6 obstacles that have nothing to do with the content.
Looking for specific information? They give me generic content optimized for keywords, not the real answer.
Trying to close something? The button is hidden or so small I need a magnifying glass.
Everything is designed to frustrate me until I give up and do what they want.
The Irony of It All
The saddest part is that this strategy is killing what made the web valuable.
I no longer bookmark sites because I know that the next time I visit, it’ll be the same nightmare. I no longer explore new sites because I assume they’ll be identical.
They turned the web into something I don’t want to use.
Then they wonder why people use ad blockers, why nobody trusts websites, why we prefer to stick to the same 5 familiar platforms.
Maybe This Is How It Has to Be
Maybe this is just the price of “progress”. Maybe this is how it works when everyone’s online and everything needs to be monetized.
But it saddens me to think about people discovering the web now who believe this is normal. Who don’t know what they missed when the web was a place for sharing, not extracting.
Maybe I’m just another old guy complaining about change. But every time I have to close 4 pop-ups to read two paragraphs, I think something broke along the way.
And honestly, I don’t know if it can be fixed.