I’m a Google Chrome user and there are some add-ons on the browser that should really become part of it. The first one is AdBlock Plus and the other is DoNotTrackMe.
Yes there are people who survive on online adverts. I’m a journalist, I know. But AdBlock Plus allows for non-intrusive ads. This is the future of online advertising and the add-on is only accelerating us getting there.
And DoNotTrackMe essentially does what its name suggests: it stops tracking codes from gathering information about you. There are tens of trackers that want to know various bits of information about you to “customise your online experience”. Those trackers do no good and perhaps just slow down loading pages.
DoNotTrackMe also has an added advantage: it hides all the social button figures (the buttons remain in case you want to use them). How many times do you judge an article based on how many people have liked it or tweeted it and not on your judgement? It has become a sort of unspoken currency for writers. I think that’s terrible. Apart from deciding for myself what I want to and not want to read, I read what my friends recommend. If I don’t like it then I stop taking that particular friend’s advice. I’ve been using DoNotTrackMe for over three months now, and find it really helpful.
Akshat Rathi 