You're assuming some place that's not the internet will exist. At least in the US with our worse than lax privacy laws, devices that turn IRL occurrences into digital data will multiply until there is simply no where left unconnected.
Is your friend running a phone app that's identifying the people around them and the topics they are interested in, all while earning a few dollars?
Where are you getting news from that's not just the firehose of falsehood? Do you really trust the people sending it to you, or are they profiting off of shoveling bullshit in to the feed?
The silver lining might be its hardly worse than how its already been. People complain we are entering an era of a firehose of falsehood. Its been that way since propaganda was rebranded as public relations after the first world war, probably longer even. You never are exposed to the full truth, the facts, the contexts. The incentives to shift opinions are too high to ever simply faithfully educate the populace. Control of the common narrative of “truth” is highly profitable, and these reins of power will never not be controlled by some entity.
Is your friend running a phone app that's identifying the people around them and the topics they are interested in, all while earning a few dollars?
Where are you getting news from that's not just the firehose of falsehood? Do you really trust the people sending it to you, or are they profiting off of shoveling bullshit in to the feed?