Obviously, I would pay someone for services rendered, but my accessing content that I wouldn’t pay for anyway is completely different than paying the guy who helped fix my toilet. Again, it is not my duty to subsidize your income just because you posted content online, so it is not my concern to ensure you get paid by ad revenue. When I choose to support someone who I think deserves it, I do things like donate or buy a bunch of records I don’t even need from an independent record label owned by a real person who’s not a rich suburbanit, or I buy a t-shirt or sticker from a small book publisher to show support. I don’t watch ads on behalf of some dumb millionaire with half-assed “content” when the free stuff from randos (which are the only content creators I even enjoy) is far superior.
And I put my money where my mouth is. You can go to my profile and find my Skyrim mods, book reviews, and decklists, and you have my blessing to use them for free, without watching ads. You can even reshare or remix them, or not give me credit, idgaf, because that’s the world I want to create.
I’ve got to go now. I’m at the public library and about to unethically steal content from authors by checking out books for free and without watching ads. I really hope Haruki Murakami can eat tonight, but ultimately it’s not my responsibility. Hasta luego!