licensed rodent

This shit is dystopian as fuck

For those who are unaware, there's been ads for a/i chat/bots going around on Tumblr. Specifically for "shapes.inc".

Obviously this is immediately worrying as chat/bots prey on low mental wellbeing, loneliness and someone's desire to interact, to then make them dependant and use their services more.

However, the ads themselves have stopped being quiet about that aspect. Here's one of the most worrying ads (aside the one that legitimately encourages users to make chat/bots of their friends' OCs without their consent, while also trying to claim that its "ethically sourced" - not telling us WHAT'S even sourced here - and therefore "guilt free".)

This is disgusting, plain and simple.

Not only is it directly preying on loneliness outright - it's encouraging a user to make a bot out of someone real without their consent. Not even a friend, no - a MUTUAL. It's encouraging parasocial dependency - just LOOK at what the "OP" is saying here: "RESPOND" "DID YOU DIE?" "PLEASE" "I MISS YOU".

It's not just encouraging parasocial behaviours nor just dependency overall, but encouraging users to breach the others' privacy just so they can pretend they're speaking to them.

Ads like this should not be allowed anywhere. Tumblr needs to get rid of it outright before someone gets hurt.

You will feel tempted by FOMO, you will feel bullied by Discord. You will be peer pressured to the ends of the earth. Do not do it. Do not allow them full access to you, and do not let them normalize this utter horseshit. We deserve anon spaces. We deserve the internet, it's ours.

Like this shit is TERRIFYING.

I was just in a place where I wanted to be done. It wasn’t that I was suicidal but I kept feeling the desire to just stop or disappear - my grief was so large I just wanted to be in a pocket realm where I could just grieve in peace while the world kept going. And the Word managed to find a way to describe the awful void I was in and crossed the distance to get to me. The fact that the Bible, that God my Father, knew this would be a feeling His creation would have on this fallen earth and made sure that His word would reach out and touch my heart when I felt so alone and isolated is such a beautiful gift.

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