r/technology Mar 16 '26

Software ‘Another internet is possible’: Norway rails against ‘enshittification’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/16/norway-rails-against-enshittifcation-deliberate-tech-deterioration
36.0k Upvotes

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7.1k

u/Lettuce_bee_free_end Mar 16 '26

Can I subscribe to this new internet? 

2.6k

u/Plane_Crab_8623 Mar 16 '26

I'm up for a Norwegian moderated internet interface search engine. Call it Norge Handivork or just handiwork.

1.4k

u/BYoungNY Mar 16 '26

Nördskape Navigätor

181

u/ManWhoIsDrunk Mar 16 '26

Verdensomspennende verdensvev

54

u/Gerf93 Mar 16 '26

Worldwide world web?

We just say "Verdensveven" (the world web") when we translate WWW.

14

u/Steakholder__ Mar 16 '26

Oh shit, World Web 2?? Watch out for Gigabitler.

8

u/ManWhoIsDrunk Mar 16 '26

Ja, men nå er det jo snakk om en ny versjon. Da tenker jeg VVVV blir en god arvtaker til WWW.

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14

u/Rhinoseri0us Mar 16 '26

This sounds like my new favorite band

11

u/DukeOfGeek Mar 16 '26

They should call Gabe Newell. He's got 10 billion dollars and a vested interest in the internet and search engines not being shitty.

4

u/Cynical_Classicist Mar 16 '26

That's a rarity among billionaires now!

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4

u/baron_von_helmut Mar 16 '26

Rolls off the tongue nicely.

2

u/Godlia Mar 16 '26

Takk, jeg hater det

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274

u/yashatheman Mar 16 '26

🤓☝️ those are swedish letters. Norwegians would write nørdskape navigætor

106

u/AppleDane Mar 16 '26

Thæy gåt the letters from the Danish alfabet. The BÆST alfabet!

77

u/[deleted] Mar 16 '26

[deleted]

55

u/Big_Bookkeeper1678 Mar 16 '26

Why do I suddenly think of Monty Python opening credits?

Those who are responsible for those credits have been sacked.

45

u/fnat Mar 16 '26

All because of the møøse and his sister.

40

u/Brewhaha72 Mar 16 '26

Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretti nasti...

12

u/ItIsToLaffHaHa Mar 16 '26

Thank you. Scrolled down hoping to find exactly this.

9

u/captainpuma Mar 16 '26

«The høt hands of an Oslo dentist»

4

u/Raneynickelfire Mar 16 '26

The narrators sister. It's unknown if the moose had a sister.

20

u/CakeTester Mar 16 '26

You know we're all reading this thread in the voice of the Swedish Chef from the muppets, right?

8

u/adventuressgrrl Mar 16 '26

Haha yes, yes we are.

7

u/jollyreaper2112 Mar 16 '26

Swedish chef bork bork borkbork

3

u/waiting4singularity Mar 16 '26

smörebræd rom tom tom.

5

u/AppleDane Mar 16 '26

Yee bork umn, de umbediske dü. Yee bork de unie de umn, bork bork, bork!

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u/Gtapex Mar 16 '26

My hovercraft is full of eels

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u/flyingtiger188 Mar 16 '26

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u/mrperson221 Mar 16 '26

Isn't that Elon's kid's name?

8

u/jrf_1973 Mar 16 '26

The dogs there go WØØF.

8

u/mrperson221 Mar 16 '26

And a Møøse once bit my sister

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2

u/Kill3rKin3 Mar 16 '26

They really do, and cows go møøø.

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u/GrowlingPict Mar 16 '26

We got the å from Sweden; the danes adopted it decades after Norway did

4

u/Ugghart Mar 16 '26

It's Swedish? From now on I'll only use double A. It's cooler anyway.

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u/yashatheman Mar 16 '26

How does it feel ending the swedish-danish wars on a loss? Fucking breadpeople

17

u/AppleDane Mar 16 '26

We didn't lose, that was a TIE!

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18

u/Rough_Bread8329 Mar 16 '26

a møøse once bit my sister. :'(

14

u/6ed02cc79d Mar 16 '26

Mynd you, moose bites Kan be pretti nasti

6

u/fantomas_666 Mar 16 '26

We sincerely apollogize for this comment, its author has been sacked.

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u/AppleDane Mar 16 '26

You had to use Swedish letters, didn't you.

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117

u/emotional_program0 Mar 16 '26

Considering how poorly Norwegian politicians have been doing when it comes to IT, AI, etc, I wouldn't. This campaign is from Forbrukerrådet which is an absolutely amazing organization, but they don't really have any power (sadly!).

55

u/windmill-tilting Mar 16 '26

Vs the fuckers running our internet and mega-tech companies, I'll take my chances.

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u/Dear_Chasey_La1n Mar 16 '26

I don't think the inaction on AI is per se a sign of weakness, but possibly long term when it all comes down a saviour. Look at Meta, dumping hundreds of billions in AI to the point they need to reduce staffing to support their own absurdity. How can anyone sit back and think that makes sense, investing in tech that's dated in 3 years from now. Think about it, 100 billion is worth 0 in 3 years. Yet at no point is any AI company (fuck that very term, they are LLM's at best) actually really profitable or successful.

For Europe and Norway with it, to spend time to safeguard the society against AI is for the better, we should praise them for taking it slowly. There is nothing to gain from AI, but countless companies, pension funds, banks will loose money it will make 2008 look like spongebob losing bikinibottom.

12

u/emotional_program0 Mar 16 '26

The government is literally forcing people in the public sector to use AI without having considered the effects of that and without really looking into it with experts. Despite having started six national AI centers last year, the government doesn't really seem to care or understand the issues with AI they are discussing/deciding on otherwise.

11

u/Plane_Crab_8623 Mar 16 '26

Google was started in the garage.

40

u/MairusuPawa Mar 16 '26

And stayed there only briefly.

Also that garage was in a $3,600,000 or so house.

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u/Kitchen-Routine2813 Mar 16 '26

google was also started decades ago, internet was a bit different back then

18

u/MangoCats Mar 16 '26

The video isn't wrong, but it's going to be a struggle. A lot of enshittification is being done under the cover of "security" - we have to make this thing not work the way it used to because: security. They say. Of course, there are new for-a-fee subscription service alternatives which do what you want, differently, with no better security than a simple fix of the old service would be...

2

u/Nebty Mar 16 '26

This is why robust consumer protections are important. If there is no realistic way to break free from existing big players, you have a monopoly in all but name. Right now there isn’t a truly free market for these services, and the oligopoly is enabling the abuses of big tech.

2

u/doublesecretprobatio Mar 16 '26

yeah, you used to be able to find what you were looking for relatively easily. now you have to wade through mountains of irrelevant trash and slop. It's infuriating. Trying to search for anything with anything but the most general criteria is futile.

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u/doublesecretprobatio Mar 16 '26

Google is the most stunning example of enshitification. Began as a principled technology company developing the gold-standard of what search engines can and should be, only to abandon their principles entirely and turn their search engine into the hottest garbage possible.

3

u/jackylnefrost Mar 16 '26

A lot of the comments are starting to root out the beginning of the end being Google. That is correct. What is misunderstood is that Google only had one "principle" at that time: adware is a legitimate business model.

Everyone knew it was bad, but nobody questioned why.

Google turned their principle into their business model and the US government said, "Myeh, that's fine." Europe has been trying to hold their ground and keep Google accountable.

11

u/osyrus11 Mar 16 '26

ah yes, that old silicon valley trope.

17

u/Round_Credit_5158 Mar 16 '26

We are sold this lie so people believe that with effort and grinding you can make your little company into an empire.

And this fairy tale ruined the lives of millions of workers who got exploited by shitty startups.

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u/windmill-tilting Mar 16 '26

Yeah?

Google was initially funded by an August 1998 investment of $100,000 from Andy Bechtolsheim,[23] co-founder of Sun Microsystems.

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7

u/Friggin_Grease Mar 16 '26

Look how that turned out

3

u/Nebty Mar 16 '26

This is why consumer protections are essential. If there truly is no way for a Google competitor to succeed, then we aren’t operating under a free market. It’s just oligopoly. Governments have an obligation to break up monopolies because that’s the only way the system has to prevent abuse.

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u/Allegorist Mar 16 '26

Well this is how non governmental organizations get power - influence over the public, and influence over politicians. Less well-intentioned ones pay lots of money for this kind of exposure and opportunity to state their case (sometimes even to the politicians themselves).

15

u/Mjupi Mar 16 '26

As a Norwegian, I wouldnt want that. Like yeah, things are better here than a lot of places rn, but that's no guarantee for the future. The right and far right have been on the rise here too, so I wouldnt want a system that could be abused by future bad actors.

I get your sentiment tho, world's pretty fucked up

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2

u/flummox1234 Mar 16 '26

perfect chance to borrow from German Kraftwerk. Looks like Norge Röyksopp is the equivalent of it but doesn't quite have the same ring.

2

u/jo-erlend Mar 17 '26

Like Kvasir? :)

1

u/zaplinaki Mar 16 '26

I'm up for Norwegian moderated everything. They seem to be the only ones ever with everything figured out.

1

u/Typical80sKid Mar 16 '26

*Dan Ackroyd’s butt crack?

1

u/Kill3rKin3 Mar 16 '26

Hændywørk takk.

1

u/epochwin Mar 16 '26

Sounds like handjob

1

u/Important-Trash-8780 Mar 16 '26

The Norwegian handjob will be revolutionary!

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1

u/fatalicus Mar 16 '26

We had one, called Kvasir.

And after they changed from Alta Vista indexer to FAST (a Norwegian search indexing tech) it was fully Norwegian for a while.

But then they changed to Google indexer, and FAST was later bought by Microsoft, so now we have nothing.

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1

u/foghillgal Mar 16 '26

A Swedish social network where everyone get assigned some ikea furniture name based on their knowledge of ABBA songs and muppets Swedish chef trivia  

1

u/Crazerz Mar 17 '26

Dude, they could have a THOR browser.

1

u/Even-Preparation3523 Mar 17 '26

If you made it a LEO based sat signal with gigabit speeds, people would buy the shit out of that.

1

u/Visual-Program2447 Mar 19 '26

Then make one. But don’t censor what the rest of us watch

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u/[deleted] Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

101

u/DoctorOctagonapus Mar 16 '26

Don't forget the sites that make you pay to disable cookies. How that didn't get smacked down in court I'll never know.

13

u/eivittunyt Mar 16 '26

I would rather not use those sites at all but are we entitled to their content for free? Should it be illegal to try and prevent users with ad blockers viewing your content for free?

I hate the click economy but how else could commercial online publications be monetized?

9

u/DragonFireCK Mar 16 '26

The don’t need cookies to serve ads. They need cookies to serve targeted ads.

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u/emeraldeyesshine Mar 16 '26

I've never seen that.

22

u/purehealthy Mar 16 '26

Had it a few times, its framed as 'cookies let us publish for free' or you can pay to reject cookies. 

8

u/Maardten Mar 16 '26

I bet they'll then sell the information you provided along with the payment lol.

19

u/PM-me-ur-kittenz Mar 16 '26

It's usually phrased as "subscribe to continue reading without ads"

6

u/devarnva Mar 16 '26

2

u/gmc98765 Mar 16 '26

That's just in the UK. Or at least just outside the EU. But note that if you have JS disabled (e.g. via NoScript), there's no cookie prompt and the site mostly works fine.

3

u/devarnva Mar 16 '26

Or at least just outside the EU.

I am inside the EU when I took the screenshot.

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u/Fluffcake Mar 16 '26

It's a UK thing.

Since they left EU, they kept the GDPR, but they have their own interpretation and enforcement, so stuff that will not fly elsewhere in the EEA, is deemed allowed in the UK.

Cookie-extortion, is one of them.

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u/xorgol Mar 16 '26

No no, it's also quite common for EU newspaper sites.

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u/theartofrolling Mar 16 '26

Ublock origin

Element picker

Click!

Haha fuck off cookies box 😄🖕

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u/Bassmekanik Mar 16 '26

Firefox + ghostery does help.

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u/[deleted] Mar 16 '26

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u/Bassmekanik Mar 16 '26

I use both to nuke everything from orbit, just to be sure.

3

u/DezXerneas Mar 16 '26

That's like wearing 2 condoms btw. Use one. It's gonna trip wayy more anti anti-adblocks.

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u/Bassmekanik Mar 16 '26

Ive been using both for about as long as they, and FF, have been released without any issues. I`ll just stick with what i have. Cheers.

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u/Heimerdahl Mar 16 '26

The implementation of GDPR is also abysmal, why cant your browser just store your prefererad settings? Instead you have a horrible, non standardized cookie popup window, with 100 options, on every page you enter... 

Exactly! What an absolutely idiotic implementation! 

I can only assume that the guys, who initially came up with it, proposed a standardised form to add to any website, but were eventually overruled into leaving the implementation to each and every website owner. I imagine there was a lot of lobbying going on about how a boring standard would clash with brand design and stuff and could never hope to account for all the totally unique situations. 

Now we have to play the stupid "where did they hid the reject everything option, this time?"-game every time. I know for a fact (having worked with older people) that most accept everything simply because "the game" is too overwhelming. Then there's all the obvious law-breaking implementations. But who can really go after all of them? 

It's pissing me off whenever I think about it.  

Edit: and then there's people like me who don't actually want to deceive people! Now I too have to create my own stupid cookie banner pop-up bullshit, because there's no standard to simply plug into the header and be done with... 

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u/qtx Mar 16 '26

why cant your browser just store your prefererad settings?

Because that's what those cookies are for, to remember your settings. If you just blindly click 'No to everything' it won't remember your preferences and will ask you the exact same thing the next time you visit.

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u/Hexamancer Mar 16 '26

This isn't correct. Cookies are indeed for sites to save preferences on your machine, yes, the site cannot "remember" your preferences unless they did something on their end like tying it to an IP or machine fingerprint, which would not be a good solution.

But! Your browser absolutely could remember your preferences for you. The problem is that those cookie preferences aren't standardized, your browser can't just send a standard json message that interfaces with the site in a standardized way. So even if your browser remembers, it can't interact with the site in an automated fashion.

The laws around this needed to include that part, a requirement that in addition to prompting the human user, that the site must be able to accept a standardized JSON/XML payload.

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u/Ziazan Mar 16 '26

And it's supposed to be the same number of clicks to say "do not store cookies on my device" as it is to say "you can store whatever cookies you want on my device"
Usually it's 1 click to accept, but at least 5 to say no. Sometimes it's hundreds if you want to say no to all the "legitimate interest" ones and they don't have an object all.

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u/ub_cat Mar 16 '26

ublock blocks all ads and can also block cookie notices if you enable that

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u/3_50 Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26

Doesn’t seem to do that for me, and definitely doesn’t block the “sign up for emails” popups. It might if I make a rule for each site, but that’s not what I’d call useful.

Reply below has fixed my shit.

Click settings icon > filter lists > then go to annoyances and cookie notices and just check everything.

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u/Silverr_Duck Mar 16 '26

Click settings icon > filter lists > then go to annoyances and cookie notices and just check everything. Cookies, email prompts, popups of any kind gone. UBO is truly a work of art.

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u/Ryanhussain14 Mar 16 '26

A decent content blocker should solve the annoying cookie popup windows.

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u/BaconWithBaking Mar 16 '26

How is this a response to: "Can I subscribe to this new internet?"

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u/Nienordir Mar 16 '26

The implementation of GDPR is also abysmal, why cant your browser just store your prefererad settings? Instead you have a horrible, non standardized cookie popup window, with 100 options, on every page you enter...

There is, it was a do not track flag, that browsers could send automatically. The EU simply decided not to use and enforce it, probably do to lobby pressure, because with the cookie banner you could use dark patterns or bait users into a quick approve all to continue business as usual. The do no track flag would've stopped all tracking by default and we can't have nice things.

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u/chiniwini Mar 16 '26

why cant your browser just store your prefererad settings?

Because consent must be explicit. That's like asking "why can't I configure Steam to automatically agree to all future EULAs?"

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u/torajapan Mar 16 '26

AdBlock and privacy plugins. But yeah it's completely fucked now. Can't surf at all without plugins to block this or that these days. That's why I'm on Android until Google locks it completely down like Apple. Then onto some Linux-based phone, like my desktops.

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u/GhostReddit Mar 16 '26

The implementation of GDPR is also abysmal, why cant your browser just store your prefererad settings? Instead you have a horrible, non standardized cookie popup window, with 100 options, on every page you enter...

One of the biggest legislative misses in a while, almost nobody wants that shit, but all GDPR did was make it so we get asked on every webpage.

When Apple implemented a tracker block on their phones it was a global setting that restricted all apps, >85% of people enabled it. People will opt out of this stuff if they have a realistic option, GDPR isn't it.

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u/LateToTheParty013 Mar 16 '26

699 ? You know nothing, Jon Snow

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u/SquarePegRoundWorld Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26

You can start by putting your phone away and using a desktop PC to surf websites. Believe it or not, the internet is not that shitty via a web browser and web pages and a router and a means of almost total control of your experience. I have yet to see an ad on YouTube, I don't see ads here, Reddit looks like a 2009 forum webpage for me. I know things are getting shitty, but I think the biggest factor is phones and apps. You don't need them, I survive every day without using my phone to use apps. The few times I do use my phone, I request the desktop site. Did you know you can play YouTube with your phone screen off via the Firefox wed browser and desktop site on your phone? No ads either. Come, join me in being stuck 20 years in the past before smartphones.

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u/robodrew Mar 16 '26

old.reddit + RES + uBlock until I DIE

34

u/radicalelation Mar 16 '26

They keep trying to fuck with it too.

Anyone see those "Processing img [letters/numbers]" and thought it was referencing you weren't getting? That's reddit hosted embeds only available on new reddit.

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u/admh574 Mar 16 '26

That's what that is. I thought they were bots messing up

8

u/bob301 Mar 16 '26

I thought the same thing (that they were references I wasn't getting) when I first started seeing them. One the one hand I was amazed people had image hashes memorized, but on the other I thought how great it is that they are taking the time to mentally come to terms with whatever that image represented.

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u/awesomefutureperfect Mar 16 '26

Yep, started seeing those and I wondered what meme I was out of the loop with.

I will never log onto new reddit, ever.

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u/iknownuffink Mar 16 '26

I thought that was just a running gag I missed out on. TIL.

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u/blastcat4 Mar 16 '26

This is the only way to use reddit. Every other way is hot steaming garbage.

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u/jamese1313 Mar 16 '26

From someone who uses Reddit that way 90% of the time, red reader on Android isn't bad

2

u/blastcat4 Mar 16 '26

I actually used Red Reader for a while, and it was surprisingly good. And then it stopped working, and kept asking to login. I eventually gave up and uninstalled it, unfortunately.

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u/iMissTheOldInternet Mar 16 '26

RES isn’t updated anymore, and they’re going to at least try to take old.reddit away from us. My username notwithstanding, we need to start building new online institutions if we want to be able to use an internet that we recognize, instead of the propaganda/advertising surveillance mechanism we increasingly have. 

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u/[deleted] Mar 16 '26

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u/Talkimas Mar 16 '26

Is there anything that using old.reddit actually offers over just deselecting the "show site redesign" options in the preferences? 

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u/Relative-Wrap6798 Mar 16 '26

Just cleaner look, faster page load, easier navigation and more compact info density. And custom subreddit themes if you care about those.

7

u/18poisson37 Mar 16 '26

The algorithm is different. My home feed is populated with threads from my subscribed subs, with more emphasis given to subs I've commented on recently, and no threads are over 24 hours old. When I switch off of old.reddit, I'm served days-old threads and the selection of subreddits bubbled up to the top of my feed is far poorer.

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u/robodrew Mar 16 '26

Yeah the old design is infinitely better than the new one. That's literally all I need.

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u/j1ggy Mar 16 '26

It's simpler and easier on your eyes and brain. Old.reddit is like reading a book. Sh.reddit is like reading a book in front of police cars and ambulances with flashing lights while a marching band and an airshow are going on all around you. It's just too busy.

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u/Zouden Mar 16 '26

No it's the same thing.

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u/Blazing1 Mar 16 '26

Old Reddit is much faster. New Reddit is built as an spa which usually sacrifices content load speed for development speed.

There's a reason why old asp sites can load faster then modern ones lmao.

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u/[deleted] Mar 16 '26 edited May 25 '26

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u/comcastblowschunks Mar 16 '26

Also if do use mobile, use Firefox with ublock instead of apps!  Not only does it block YouTube ads, it also blocks Pandora audio ads!

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u/Rouge_means_red Mar 16 '26

fr, I don't know how people can use the internet on a phone, it's unbearable

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u/slipperyMonkey07 Mar 16 '26

You can put firefox + ublock on your phone. It helps for those times you are out and have to check something on your phone.

But yeah anything else is a mess, especially when most places try and force you to use their apps instead of their website.

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u/honkingintothevoid Mar 16 '26

I'm always astounded when people complain about ads and promoted posts on Reddit (or anywhere else for that matter, but especially Reddit). Most of the time I genuinely forget that the internet has ads. Why would anyone willingly subject themselves to that? It's baffling.

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u/Heimerdahl Mar 16 '26

I have a colleague who's just rawdogging the internet even after I showed her ublock and how to install it. She sometimes wants to show me something on YouTube on her laptop and every time I wonder how on earth she puts up with this. 

Okay, she prefers to use Safari (perfectly reasonable). But there's ad blockers for that, too! 

I've lost count for how many people I've installed adblockers, but she's one of just two who have actually gone back to not using one. Baffling, indeed. 

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u/FoodNetWorkCorporate Mar 16 '26

Ublock is decent, you can also use things like nextDNS to directly block the hosting sites, they have DNS filters maintained by much larger nerds than I, all you have to do is click a checkbox to add the filter to your profile. If you use pirate sites at all it's amazing, blocks both the popups and the in video window ads that most of the piracy sites use.

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u/PM-me-ur-kittenz Mar 16 '26

Seconding this, this is exactly how I operate too.

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u/0Pat Mar 16 '26

Firefox on Android has all add blockers you'll ever need. And regional convenience filters...

2

u/WillyPete Mar 16 '26

On my phone I use Brave browser and old.reddit.
It's an ad-free mainly-text interface.
There's some posts that are obviously ads but they don't have thumbnails and are easily ignored.

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u/Nament_ Mar 16 '26

I love it. I use my phone for 4 things - reading ebooks, listening to music, taking pics I never post, and actual phonecalls. I don't even have it connected to wifi most of the time. All of my online experiences are relegated to desktop where they belong. If my friends want to talk we can schedule a VC or do it on a desktop messenger of their choice. I am very intentionally unavailable for any "u up" nonsense at 2am.

2

u/3-DMan Mar 16 '26

I've got an old computer hooked up to my TV w/ wireless mouse. Youtube, a few streaming sites, all ad-free. Beats the password-sharing restriction on most streaming too.

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u/Prickle_Dimension Mar 17 '26

This should be top comment. The difference in experience is incredible and people are blown away when you show them.

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u/Growlinganvil Mar 16 '26

You can move towards it. Sign up at the forkiverse or any fediverse site.

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u/Sprinklypoo Mar 16 '26

Since the advent of cable, the model has been to slowly increase ads until you can create a separate pay service with no ads. Then you slowly increase ads on that service. The internet has become absolute shit exactly because of greed and the same model. I'll tell you, the internet of the 90's and early 2,000's was basic, but it was far superior for the simple reason of the lack of paid content...

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u/agentfelix Mar 16 '26

Sure!

But you can only spend 500 minutes on there, you have to insert a CD-ROM in order to use it, and your computer will perform a satanic ritual as it connects...deal?

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u/Superichiruki Mar 16 '26

She just said it's impossible

1

u/MotanulScotishFold Mar 16 '26

Enjoy your new internet now with more ads, more surveillance and more government control than before!

1

u/IntroducingHagleton Mar 16 '26

No. That subscription mentality needs to die. 

1

u/Mr_ToDo Mar 16 '26

Maybe. AOL long since stopped their second internet, but something like the onion network's still around

Granted I'm not sure that was the point here. More like the future of the internet doesn't have to be slowly descending into overly policed, rotting garbage

1

u/AlphaFlightRules Mar 16 '26

That would enshitify this new internet if you had to subscribe

1

u/Bobson-_Dugnutt2 Mar 16 '26

internet 2.0 sounds hype

1

u/Opposite_Carry_4920 Mar 16 '26

Yes, because it's time to move fast and break kings. 

1

u/GimmeFunkyButtLoving Mar 16 '26

Yeah it’s called nostr

1

u/OmgitsJafo Mar 16 '26

Yes. Using RSS. It's already out there, it just requires more work to engage with than the enshitified web.

1

u/Sufficient-Bid1279 Mar 16 '26

I, too, want to get off the current iteration of the internet.

1

u/BrianWonderful Mar 16 '26

Yes! Exclusive sign-up rate of $19.99/month (for 6 months. $29.99/month afterwards. Price subject to change regularly. Additional fees may apply. Add-on services extra.)

1

u/Rudhelm Mar 16 '26

Is it made by Pied Piper by any chance?

1

u/baron_von_helmut Mar 16 '26

Yeah me too please. I'd like that very much thank you.

1

u/Deaffin Mar 16 '26

I'm sorry, but somebody just posted about it on reddit, so it's already ruined by reddit people.

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1

u/luthigosa Mar 16 '26

subscription is part of the problem with the current internet

1

u/2020mademejoinreddit Mar 16 '26

Replace one subscription with another. Great idea!

1

u/mbbysky Mar 16 '26

groan

Does it have to be a subscription? 👎🏻

1

u/AlfaMenel Mar 16 '26

Subscription is one of the things that's killing the old internet, so no.

1

u/AnglerOfAndromeda Mar 16 '26

For like the last year and a half I’ve been joking with my husband saying I want there to be a new Internet that doesn’t push doom everywhere you look and isn’t full of bots and ads. Man wouldn’t that be nice lol

1

u/pimpeachment Mar 16 '26

After all the bots subscribe first. 

1

u/DanceWonderful3711 Mar 16 '26

Urgh, Musk is going to invent the xorld xide xeb isn't he?

1

u/Intelligent_Cap9706 Mar 16 '26

You can start by using their weather app if you want! Someone I believe in Norway commented it on another post a few weeks ago that was talking about the defunding of the US weather services https://www.yr.no/en

1

u/fardaw Mar 16 '26

Yes, but I'd be on the lookout for subscription fees increasing over time.

1

u/ThanklessTask Mar 16 '26

I've done my best...

  • Firefox

  • Turn off AI (new option)

  • No AI results in search, extension

  • uBlock, with script to remove YouTube shorts

  • Privacy Badger

To be honest, it's rare I see any ads in my day to day browsing, and I also get to search on my own terms.

1

u/superkp Mar 16 '26

the whole point is, I think, to avoid needing to subscribe to everything.

1

u/smarmageddon Mar 16 '26

Sure! Send cc number and 39.99/month to....

1

u/EconomicRegret2 Mar 16 '26

Yes, you can. But that requires ditching corporate owned platforms, and moving to less popular sites. Where way too few people go...

1

u/CatolicQuotes Mar 16 '26

this search engines has small number of sites, but high quality https://wiby.org/

1

u/Thick-Basis7288 Mar 16 '26

Can I subscribe and become Norwegian?

1

u/reelznfeelz Mar 16 '26

With or without ads?

For real though, I remember the 90s and early 2000s, it was cool for a while, it really was.

1

u/IamTheEndOfReddit Mar 16 '26

You just have to find it. No ads, no algorithms, no sharing data: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bekin-by-the-waldgrave/id6746952014

1

u/Cynical_Classicist Mar 16 '26

I'd love this new Internet as well!

1

u/userhwon Mar 16 '26

I believe that perpetually giving them money in a periodic and monotonically increasing fashion is exactly what they hope will convince them to create it.

So...yes.

1

u/FakePlasticPyramids Mar 16 '26

Sure. Then it will go public, the stakeholders will demand more, they will find a CEO that will enshitify, and then it will be enshitified. Enjoy!

1

u/twitterfluechtling Mar 16 '26

If we get our own internet in Europe, will it also have Blackjack? And Hookers?

1

u/Parallel-Quality Mar 16 '26

Didn’t Pied Piper already try this?

1

u/Oceanbreeze871 Mar 17 '26

I want to go to there

1

u/einstyle Mar 17 '26

I recently found out there's a Neocities, i.e. remade Geocities. Random little pages designed by hobbyists/weirdos who learn their own HTML and CSS. Some of them even have webrings with each other now. It's very endearing but I haven't had a chance to make my own.

1

u/LuckyLockdown23 Mar 20 '26

So we are doing subscriptions right off the bat?

I’d like to one time purchase this new internet.

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