I missed the part where Aol. was promoting toxicity and hate while attempting a short-term grift on its users like Reddit and X have.
That fact that Aol. is still alive is amazing by itself. It’s just another sleazy, beleaguered company that used to be meaningful. You leave because other companies have better products, not because they offend your sense of morality.
(Or maybe they do.)
I think you underestimate how ignorant people can be. The reason Aol still exists is because they are grifters too. My Aol example was to show that people are docile idiots and won’t change their habits. Aol is grifting just as much as reddit does. They’re just grifting different groups in different ways.
That’s why i think reddit and twitter will continue on for a long time. Maybe not as powerhouses but they won’t implode or go away any time soon.
My mom was still paying for dial-up AOL in 2016. She had been paying them $20 a month for over a decade while having high-speed internet that she was also paying for.
When I asked her why she didn’t cancel it, she said she would lose her email.
So I canceled it because AOL provides free email because they make money off of the ads.
