I go to great lengths to avoid seeing advertising, to the point of finding alternative means to access websites, or dropping them entirely and replacing them with the Fediverse. I know part of the point of advertising is to make me remember them, so if I can minimize what I see? All the better. I’m even getting better at diverting my gaze if I see markers of advertising before I recognize what the ad is for.

I use a browser called FireDragon, run uBlock Origin and VPN/DNS adblockers, anti-tracking scripts, access YouTube through the FreeTube app or Invidious (and wait for fixes if Google breaks them), or just use PeerTube (I financially support the instance I’m on), have no streaming service accounts except for ad-free ones that do not have ad-riddled tiers, buy DVDs and keep the TV off until the menu appears, keep my smart TV off the Internet (still pissy I couldn’t get a “dumb” TV), refuse to keep my Xbox online (almost never use it anymore), dropped Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, and Instagram and replaced them with Lemmy, Mastodon, and Bluesky, and use blacklisting extensions for any website that demands I disable my adblocker.

There’s probably more that I do I just can’t think of, but beyond billboards which I think are reprehensible (and have gotten better at not seeing), I very rarely see ads online. I feel like my mental health and general state of mind are much better off this way, and I cannot go back to the unfiltered Internet.

I won’t allow my devices to be ad-delivery systems. What happens on my screen is within my jurisdiction, and I will control it.