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k v v p a
k v v p a

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how to internet in 2021

  1. Stay secure and private. 2FA, password managers, privacy browsers and search engines like Startpage or DuckDuckGo.
  2. Turn off all notifications (except for Phone, Messages, Messenger, Calendar, the essentials). If you need to use a service or to purchase a product, you’ll go to them on your own without their prodding.
  3. Mute/unfollow all the assholes. Yes that includes QANON and pro-Trumpers, but it also includes annoying over-the-top leftists who have lost grips with reality.
  4. READ ALL your news from reputable sources (AP, BBC, NYT, WP). Believe nothing at face-value, keep an open mind, consider the varied agendas at play. Do not get news from social media. Do not watch/listen to the propagandists at CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News.
  5. Make an attempt to educate yourself fully on a topic and understand opposing viewpoints before the impulse to be a condescending dick takes over. Also known as don’t be an uninformed asshole.
  6. Live 90-99% of your life (outside of work) free from social media. Meet other humans! Exist in the real world (Zoom and Discord works for now, you get what I’m saying). Social media isn’t equivalent to a social life. It is a false reality. You want respect as a human, not as a username on a website.
  7. You don’t have to share anything, ever, with anyone, for any reason. If you find yourself in debates online, you’re the only one to blame for that.
  8. If it takes excessive mental gymnastics to prove your point, you’re probably wrong. Learn to learn, you don’t know everything. If you think you “know better than most”, that means you’re likely a narcissist, not that you’re actually correct.
  9. Be kind as much as possible, assume good intent until it’s evident that it’s not. If it’s not, remember rules 6 and 7.

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