As someone who has been in the industry over 25+ hands down this is the worst period of being online.
There has always been that programmer who wanted to quit and run a restaurant, but tech world lost its original soul. We were making people’s lives better, now we are just creating more wealth gap. Majority of the industry is hostile, online communities are extremely hard to get into and very exclusive, if you are new you cannot get in. Majority of the content somewhere between bots, fake news, propaganda and rage bait. Almost all good things about tech and the internet were killed one by one.
Don’t get me wrong there are very exciting things from pure nerd perspective in this AI age but nothing is fulfilling as it used to.
For me this culminated to a deep belief that technology =/= progress. This has shaken my core to re-evaluate who will ever be allowed to benefit from my skills and time, but ruined a lot of my genuine enjoyment and enthusiasm.
> For me this culminated to a deep belief that technology =/= progress.
I landed on the opposite conclusion. People don't progress in any domain if technology doesn't force them. Sometimes the ride might be bumpy and it might be taking them forwards kicking and screaming, but without new technology no progress happens on any issue.
Science drives technology, technology drives economy and technology and economy drive culture and science. That's the virtuous feedback loop that drives itself and everything human as a side effect.
I agree that both individual and progress of humanity relies on technology. Considering the state of the planet currently, it's essential to support the population count.
To clarify, "=/=" is to denote "not equivalent", in that not all technology or advancement is progress.
I used to be naive and use/recommend things I now wish never existed. Not because they aren't useful or a potential future, but because of who owns and controls them now.
As time goes on, it's clear how dangerous certain tools can be in the wrong hands. If we aren't careful, the feedback loop can end up destroying us and/or limiting our freedoms. Unfortunately it appears this is the current road we are on.
On this forum, it's likely that the power we have starts with careful analysis of what we are building and who can use it in (unintended) negative ways.
Try to register to a forum, try to actually communicate in X as a new account, try to use and discuss something in Reddit as a new account.
Between bots and bit protections all of these is practically impossible unless you build a reputation in relevant places by being a long term member.
Ar least that’s been my experience. I’m sure there are some very niche communities for some stuff that are welcome to new accounts, I had this problem in 4-5 different communities and simply given up.
There has always been that programmer who wanted to quit and run a restaurant, but tech world lost its original soul. We were making people’s lives better, now we are just creating more wealth gap. Majority of the industry is hostile, online communities are extremely hard to get into and very exclusive, if you are new you cannot get in. Majority of the content somewhere between bots, fake news, propaganda and rage bait. Almost all good things about tech and the internet were killed one by one.
Don’t get me wrong there are very exciting things from pure nerd perspective in this AI age but nothing is fulfilling as it used to.