Qualia: Living Ad-Free and Breaking Away from Dark Patterns, Hidden Fees, and More

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Welcome to Qualia

Tired of dealing with ads everywhere, hidden fees, sneaky tricks, and endless subscriptions? You’re not the only one. Here in our community, we come together to help each other avoid ads, point out shady tactics, and call out companies when they try to pull one over on us.

Qualia refers to the unique, personal experiences we each have—how we individually perceive the world around us.

Here’s what we’re about:

Sharing tips for avoiding ads and recognizing dark patterns designed to manipulate our choices
Exposing the tricks companies use to push us into buying things we don’t need
Calling out hidden fees and price hikes in everyday services
Discussing why it feels like everything is turning into a subscription
Finding ways to step back from the constant pressure to consume
And more: covering additional topics that help us make better decisions in an increasingly complex world

When every aspect of daily life feels like it’s designed to push you into spending more, it’s time to take a step back. We are about making intentional, informed choices and living on our own terms without the constant pressure to buy, subscribe, or upgrade.

Join us and take control of your choices. Together, we can create a life with less distraction and more clarity.

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1. Be Respectful

Debate and disagree respectfully. Personal attacks, name-calling, or harassment will not be tolerated.

2. No Spam

Avoid repetitive posts, irrelevant links, or anything that could be considered spam. This includes posting the same message across multiple threads or promoting unrelated websites

3. No Politics

This community is about simplifying life, not debating politics. Let's keep the focus on practical ways to improve our daily experiences.

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qlya

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Dark Pattern by the State Government When Renewing License Plates/Registration (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 months ago by qlya to c/qualia

7 comments fedilink hide all child comments

They bold the price at the top as well as calling it Total and then in the line items they do their best to blend the option of removing $5 with the other two options of adding more costs.

I wish I would have taken a photo of it before I circled the content and wrote the comment. I can only imagine how many people fall victim to this and are paying an additional $5.

With all that being said, I already support the state parks as my license plate is a special state park plate which costs extra per year to have.

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[–] simplymath 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Lol. OP uses public roads for $43 a year and is complaining that trees cost $5. Does OP actually think roads only cost $43 per vehicle per year?

Or maybe the US government massively subsidizes car travel using income taxes collected from everyone (even those who walk, use public transit, or bike).

Whereas, the ability to convert CO2 into oxygen via plant respiration is something everyone needs.

[–] qlya 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This community is about dark patterns. Sounds like you're in the wrong place.

[–] simplymath 2 points 2 months ago

Hiding the true cost of road maintenance and offloading it on everyone else is a dark pattern, homey.