Another Internet Manifesto

I've put off writing one of these for a while now, and it's mostly because I don't feel like I have anything to say that hasn't already been said in countless other's internet manifestos. I feel like just repeating what others have said, or vaguely rewording it doesn't add anything to the conversation. I don't want to be just another voice chanting the same thing, but I do also think it's important for me to have a place where I have concisely written my intentions and reasons for making this site, beyond what is on my index. So here goes nothing.

I think everyone can agree the internet has just gotten worse over the past decade or so. (as of 2025) With the increase in advertisements, the reworking of websites and apps to keep you engaged and clicking around longer,^[1]^[2] the enshitification of social media, the expanding censorship and purging of NSFW content,^[3] and the loss of child-dedicated sites^[4] it would be hard for anyone to argue that the internet has gotten better for the end users. Sure, theres a million tools and apps and games and videos and whatever to make your life easier, but you're paying for that with either your privacy and information, or you're paying a subscription fee.

By now I think everyone has heard "if you're not paying for it, then you're the product being sold" but I don't think we actually consider the truth of that phrase. When you are using a corporate website or an app, those take resources to host, and in this economy, those resources cost money. Now, in the past, those costs could be covered by simple ads in a sidebar or banner. Advertisers would pay the website or app for the space to advertise. But capitalism (our current economic system) demands growth, it can and will never be enough to just stay consistent, you have to be able to accrue more money (capital). There are two main ways of accruing more capital, either increase prices or increase sales, but corporations have found a secret third way that just ends up screwing themselves over, but we'll talk about that later.

The capitalist economy supposedly breeds competition, and this competition is supposed to drive prices lower. In theory in order to get more sales you have to sell your products at a lower price than your competitor. There are many, many flaws with this theory. The main one being one I mentioned earlier, Capitalism necessitates an accruing of capital in order to survive, so if competition necessitates driving prices lower, but profits have to continue to increase, we really only have one other option, sell more. This strategy is most evident with the hyper-consumerism of the 90s, making anything and everything in an attempt to grab the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Nowadays we see it with companies submitting to political pressure and going with the flow of the country's dominant politic,^[5] but we also see it in the mass censorship we see happening, companies are tying to make themselves so unoffensive to as many people as possible, so they can get as many customers as possible.

Online companies, like Google (before they sold pixel phones and other physical products) were very limited in what they could sell, theres only so much ad space per page, but they had all this data on their users that they had collected, and advertisers foaming at the mouth for that kind of information. What did these people look at? What are their interests? What do they want to buy? How can I capitalize on that? Advertisers knew that with this treasure trove of information they could target specific users with advertisements that were tailored to the user's interest, making it more likely that they will buy that advertised product. And, to clarify, it's not just Google that does this, Facebook/Instagram/Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and others took every opportunity to sell their user's information in order to increase their profit margins. (although Apple has reportedly moved away from this practice,^[6] I'm not sure how much I trust them)

Why do they collect this data in the first place? And how is it legal to sell my information without my consent? Well, to answer that second question, you probably did give consent by agreeing to that long, annoying Terms of Service that you have to agree to upon signing up for anything, also, they don't technically sell your data directly, they sell advertisers the ability to target their ads to certain demographics, that they have defined based on the data they've collected on you.^[7]

Google and other companies following the same business model, aren't selling your information to these advertisers directly, the advertisers have very little use for the data itself, instead, Google (or other companies) compile your data along with other people's and they categorize you based on the information they have, such as your age, gender, sexuality, location, pets, family members, devices, food preferences, sports teams, what websites you visit, what ads you click on, etc. and then they sell the ability to target certain demographics with specific advertisements. So, for example, a 26yo, gay man living in Nebraska, who likes Soccer could be targeted by advertisements for:

18-30y men
Gay men
18-30yo gay men
Residents of Nebraska
18-30yo Nebraska Residents
Gay Nebraska Residents
Male Nebraska Residents
18-30yo male residents of Nebraska
Gay men who like soccer
18-30yo men who like soccer
Nebraska residents who like soccer

or any other combination of those factors, so Advertisers come to Google (or whatever) and are like "I have this ad that I want to show to 10,000 18-30yo Nebraska residents" and then Google (or whatever) shows that ad to 10,000 people who fit that demographic from their data. (theres also real-time-bidding, which is expanded upon in the linked source for footnote 7)

This practice not only gives Google more things to sell, but they can also charge more money for the service.

Now, remember how I said companies had found a secret third way to increase their profits? Lets talk a bit about that. Anyone who has tried to get a job in the US lately know how hard that is right now, but do you know why?

In a capitalist economy, money = power = money. Those who are attempting to climb the upper rungs of the ladder of power generally need money to do so.

In order to further their climb up the ladder, many state governors will make deals with corporations, if the corporation sets up shop in the governor's state, the governor will give the corporation large tax breaks (meaning the corporations pay less in taxes), this can even become bidding wars between different states,^[9] which state will give the company the biggest tax breaks. However, states are not the only competitors, municipalities can also offer subsidies as a way to bid for corporations to set up shop in their area. Once a state/municipality win the bid, they become heavily invested in keeping that business there, and thriving, which means they're less likely to enforce laws protecting the workers.^[10]

But what does any of this have to do with why I can't find a job? Wouldn't new facilities necessitate more job openings? Well, yes and no. There are many examples of these corporate projects being scrapped before they open,^[11-14], those that do eventually open are chronically understaffed,^[15-17] and because there is no federal law regulating understaffing, only a complex web of overlapping state, industry, and workplace safety regulations, it is usually completely legal for the companies to under staff their facilities. (this is also a reason why unions are so important, no matter the industry you're in)

So, to clarify, the third way the companies have found to increase profit margins is to either underpay their employees and/or not hire even the minimum staff to comfortably cover the shifts needed. Plus some companies will only hire part time hourly staff and/or schedule staff so they work less than the minimum required for benefits so they don't have to provide insurance or other benefits.^[18-20] Target has even found a loophole so they don't have to pay full time staff overtime.^[21] (and by underpaying their workers they guarantee that their employees will not be able to financially contribute to the goods economy, because all their pay has to go towards their basic survival, rather than the consumerism that these companies depend upon)

Okay, but this is supposed to be an internet manifesto, not an essay on the evils of the job industry, right? Well, I personally think the background of how these things play out in the real world is important for understanding how they play out in digital space. So how does understaffing and part time worker abuse and subsidy bidding wars have to do with the internet? More than you might think.

First, lets go over some very quick, simple background on the tech industry, this will be important information for us to build on later. The tech industry has been one of the fastest growing industries in the past 20 years,^[22] making investing in tech startups seem like a valuable investment, and for several years, while these tech startups were still getting on their feet they were not expected to provide profits to the investors for several years, but they still had to make payments on the initial loan,^[23] but at some point (it differs depending on multiple factors) the startups are expected to turn a profit, and if their company went into public trading, they're expected to also make money for their shareholders.

New companies usually don't make much profit, if any, for the first few years. They spend time finding their niche, advertising, building a consumer base, and trying out new things till they find what works. Then they build on that, and that is when they actually start to build profits. This is generally the model followed by most startup companies.

However new tech companies are expected to turn a profit much faster, being expected to follow in the footsteps of Amazon and Google. And as we've established, theres two main ways to do that, increase prices, or increase sales. But then theres that insidious third way that we've looked at, which is the easiest to implement and get pretty instant results. But what would it even look like to implement shortstaffing the internet or for states to bid on company contracts?

Well, the bidding and subsidies part looks pretty much the exact same,^[24] but the labor exploitation is a bit less overt. While facilities housing servers, corporate offices, or other tech company needs require employees to function, there is a higher chance that tech companies will just relocate existing employees, rather than hiring new employees,^[25-26] which only spreads the workforce thinner, creating understaffing issues where the existing employees are underpaid and overworked.

Then we have the issue of "outsourcing," which just means hiring an outside company (usually in a chronically underfunded and underdeveloped country) to do the work for a fraction of the price they would pay if they hired locally.^[27] This is a labor issue because the company is not only minimizing job opportunities for locals looking for work, but also exploiting the labor of the workers of the company they outsourced to. And sure, theres an argument to be made that by outsourcing the work, the original company is not responsible for the working condition, labor violations, or pay of the employees doing the work, but seeing as these companies go out of their way to hire the cheapest labor available, knowing that the price cut is likely to come with downsides for the laborers, I don't think we should let the companies off the hook for this one.

On top of that, over the past 5 years we've seen a record number of tech industry layoffs, people who had intended to build their careers at these companies suddenly having the floor ripped out from under them. And because of the above issues, those who were laid off are still struggling to find new jobs, even when they have the skill sets that tech companies are looking for.

[1] The Psychology of Social Media Engagement: What Keeps Us Scrolling?

[2] Addictive Features of Social Media/Messenger Platforms and Freemium Games against the Background of Psychological and Economic Theories

[3] ‘Financial companies shouldn’t be in this position’: How more than 20,000 NSFW video games fell under censorship

[4] Why Are There No Online Spaces For Kids Anymore?

[5] How Major Brands Have Dealt With Right Wing Backlash to Pride Campaigns

[6] Apple Privacy Page

[7] Google Says It Doesn’t 'Sell' Your Data. Here’s How the Company Shares, Monetizes, and Exploits It.

[8] Does Google sell your data?

[9] Subsidy Competition as an Auction (PDF download link)

[10] Companies That Receive State Subsidies Are More Likely to Break Workplace Laws

[11-14] E2: $8 Billion and 16 New Clean Energy Projects Abandoned in First 3 Months of 2025, Triple 2022-2024 Cancelled Investments Combined;
Developer withdraws plans for Killingly battery storage facility;
‘Unwelcome surge’ of project abandonments hits construction;
Project abandonments spike

[15-17] United States Senate HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, & PENSIONS COMMITTEE Amazon Investigation Interim Report July 15, 2024 PEAK SEASONS, PEAK INJURIES: Amazon Warehouses Are Especially Dangerous During Prime Day and the Holiday Season—and the Company Knows It (PDF download link);
Hospital Nurse Staffing and Patient Mortality, Nurse Burnout, and Job Dissatisfaction;
The Big Three’s Labor Shortages