Google’s FLoC Is a Terrible Idea

So basically you're saying it's like Eternal September spread everywhere. I don't hear normies liking tracking much though, quite the opposite.

I think one way to put it is that normies don't like a visible reminder of what the service/organization knows about them, but are otherwise perfectly content to not care about how the sausage is made. (Which is understandable since naturally a non-tech person isn't going to have a good mental model of what cookies, HTTP requests, tracking pixels etc are)

In other words, you can track the normies all you want as long as your app doesn't do something "creepy" that reveals how much it really does know about them

Indeed, there's a couple of data points suggesting that when users are asked for informed consent for tracking, only around 9% agree. That was true across both the UK information commissioner's website, as well as a small commercial shop website (from memory).

It strikes me that, as you say, even "normies" don't like tracking.

I think the problem is when sleek services obfuscate how they work and users don't understand what happens.

The average "normie" doesn't realise that, by default, a cloud service provider sees all their data in the clear. They assume it's somehow private, but haven't seen behind the veil to understand how services work. And the increasing complexity of the tech stack means understanding it becomes harder and harder every day that goes by.

I don't torrent much anymore, but one of the things I really love about private torrent trackers are the forums.

They're stuck in the mid 2000s, in all the best ways.

Technologically they're ancient (usually HTML tables), the amount of users grow slowly (if at all) and are limited to maximum a few thousand (usually just a few hundred actively using the forums though). Users won't risk their treasured accounts by acting badly, and since very few join private trackers for the forums you get a wide specter of different people participating, in their different ways.

Some users are silly and post memes, others post long and thought through replies, often in the same thread. Everything is discussed, from politics to the latest movie. There's no "karma" to earn.

After a while you start recognizing the same people. I'm really glad I still have access to it, otherwise I would feel kinda lost in today's internet, where you need to find a new site/subreddit for every topic. No tracking either for that matter.

Yes, people like free stuff better than expensive stuff. But when you offer people a dollar to track them, they happily accept.