In Eli Pariser’s TED Talk “Beware Filter Bubbles”, his thoughts about the internet are that it is “a connection to the world… sure it was going to be great for democracy”. This optimism is a recurrent sentiment when talking about the internet. There is an emphasis on openness and connection, unfettered by intervention by outside forces. It is envisioned as a separate world with different rules than “real life”.  Some go so far as to say that the internet is anarchic, that there are no rules whatsoever on the internet.

I believe believe this web 1.0-esque optimism about the “openness” of the internet is outdated. We are finally beginning to realize the reality of the internet – that it is not a separate entity from “real life”. It is “real life” itself, controlled by corporations that claim to make information “universally accessible“, and give you the “power to share and make the world more open and connected“, but however are interested mostly in capital, as all corporations are.

The corporations have the exigence to user experience and content to meet the end of yielding the highest profit, dependent on user-retention and (mostly) advertising. Facebook makes 82% of its revenue from advertising, and you are the consumer. You may think that you are on Google for the sole purpose to search for funny cat videos, but Google sees you as a potential consumer. This greatly influences the experience you have, and the information you are allowed to see. “The world at your fingertips” is conditional.

The internet isn’t separate from “real life” as we had envisioned it would be. It is a part of life itself, for many a large part of life. When your smartphone is an “extension of your arm”, and when “just google it” is a part of our everyday vocabulary, how could the internet be separate from real life and governed by separate (no) rules? “Real life” has ads to drive past, salespeople to avoid, “50% OFF” signs to tempt us. Why would the internet be any different?