Neal Stephenson predicted this (of course). Google, reddit, and others in the cohort are effectively ‘shallow web,’ easily searchable and manipulated by SEO. As such, you get 10-15 sites with all the same content, reducing the quality of your searches and the overall quality of web content.
It’s an effort to get clicks and monetize.
There’s no coming back from it.
Sort of. I left FTE for this in July 2021. It’s feast or famine. You’re going to need a steady stream of jobs and the ability to say no, but that only comes after an abundance of saying yes to everything, sleepless nights of working your ass off, until finally it becomes steady.
It’s not for the faint of heart.
I’ve almost done 3 years in as an independent. Don’t do it if you don’t have multiple faucets providing gigs for you. I make 2x my FTE salary, but it ebbs and flows.
If you are not already connected, don’t do it.
Edit: added “3”. No time context before.
None GUI. Just use a terminal!
Digging the proverbial hole with the shovel. (now, double down, OP.)