As I continue refining CleanedIn, I received some great comment from a beta tester. It got me thinking about the broader ethical questions surrounding this tool. Here’s what they shared: "I was contemplating the ethical implications of tools that modify a platform’s experience. LinkedIn designs its ecosystem - including ads and recommended content - as part of its business model. If users suppress those elements, is that a form of theft? Consider a coffee shop: if I sit at a table, enjoy the heating, lighting, and ambiance, but never buy a coffee - am I unfairly taking advantage of the space? Or take cable TV piracy - viewers illegally tapped into networks to avoid paying for content. Is blocking ads or suppressing recommendations any different? Where is the line between a business’s right to monetize and a user’s right to control their experience?" So someone shouldn't use an ad blocker at all because it breaks the business model of what we use for free? The implicit agreement (in fact... ToS) says we should give away a lot of our privacy and control in exchange for some content we value. However, we do not explicitly consent to every design decision which, by now, are optimized for their algorithm (monetization of our attention), not necessarily our interests. There needs to be a fair value exchange. CleanedIn isn't about stealing content or bypassing paywalls - it simply helps users filter what they personally find distracting in their feed, much like email filters help manage inbox overload. A key difference between LinkedIn and cable TV piracy is the control users already have. LI allow users to scroll past ads, ignore recommendations, or use built-in settings to manage their feed (to some extent!). CleanedIn simply automates a behavior users would do manually anyway - it doesn’t block ads from being loaded. The coffee shop analogy is interesting. But what if instead of physically sitting at a table, I ordered my coffee but chose not to listen to the in-store music because I found it distracting? Or used noise-canceling headphones to filter out conversations? That’s more in line with what CleanedIn will do - it doesn’t block LinkedIn from monetizing; it just lets users curate their own experience within what is already available. I think this comes down to user agency. Platforms can design their experience as they see fit, but users should also have the right to shape their experience within the boundaries of fair use. If someone isn’t violating terms of service, stealing content, or circumventing paywalls, is it unethical for them to declutter their own experience? That being said... The LI ToS says this in their "Don'ts": "Overlay or otherwise modify the Services or their appearance (such as by inserting elements into the Services or removing, covering, or obscuring an advertisement included on the Services)" So there's that... What do you think? Should I stop or should I go?