zahnster

The move to Mexico has opened my eyes to a whole new world. And I don’t mean because I’m in another country (although that’s also true, Puerto Vallarta is a stark contrast to NYC in just about every way possible). What I’m talking about is how the Internet treats people in different locations.

It’s no secret that media streaming sites, such as Hulu, don’t function outside the US. If you visit Hulu from Mexico (or France, or Zimbabwe…) Hulu will display a message that you’re outside their ad-supported geobubble, and thus, cannot view it’s content.

Aside from this being a total buzzkill (how am I going to watch my Daily Show now?), I’ll say that it also introduces a very limited mindset from advertisers in how to reach their audience. Just because I’m accessing a website from a particular location doesn’t mean that I’m from that location. As the Internet becomes increasingly integrated into our lives, it opens up a freedom for us to explore more, to change our location, because thanks to the Internet, we can still be productive and do all the same things that we’d do from our homes.

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