Hey @owasco!

Yes the males provide the value of pollinating the females. If not pollenating, just throw them out. (after pollination they are usually thrown out as well.)
I've pollenated once, it was pretty easy and straight forward. Just brush the pollen onto the pistils where the buds will start forming. That's all it takes.

Male plants do not produce bud that can be smoked, only little pollen sacks that contain the pollen. They produce no bud at all. If you see a plant with pollen sacks and bud forming, this is a hermaphrodite plant, which starts as female. Male plants do not turn both, but female plants can and sometimes do from being stressed, either by light cycle interruptions, or physical stressors .

If you had bud with seeds in it, that means it was a female plant that was pollenated and caused it to create seeds. If it was super heavy with seeds and barely any bud, it sounds like an intentional rip off, or maybe just super "bottom of the bag" stuff.

So the netting is for support? How does this promote bud growth?

Yes it helps support the buds when they become too top heavy and would otherwise tip over, and this support also let's the plant know it is supported which promotes heavier growth.

I've never tried this method before so it will be interesting to see if the difference is substantial.

Thank you for the kind words and intuitive interest in learning more about cannabis my friend!