I'm so glad I found this post via my Network Page because it's such an important topic. I'm always looking to better understand how new fans' experiences differ from what mine were. I tend to think of progress as social responsibility/awareness, and to me, that's the opposite of letting Big Business dictate everything we do and see for the purpose of selling us something. It's hard for me to wrap my head around it being anything someone would actually *want*. What is that quote, about giving them someone a child and they'll have them for life? Definitely disturbing, this trust and faith they have in the internet, seeming to assume it has their best interests at heart and no caution necessary. Or perhaps we are all commodities now instead of people, even when we are pursuing a hobby in our free time.

I hope you don't mind my linking to your post in my journal. It's such an interesting and important issue, and I haven't seen it presented like this before. Thanks for posting!