It feels like the web is becoming more closed every year — fewer open forums, more platforms locking away data and communities behind logins. What do you think are the biggest forces driving the decline of the open internet? Are walled gardens like Discord the main problem, or is it something else like artificial intelligence, corporate consolidation, surveillance, or changing user habits?
Capitalism. To a capitalist, the internet is another domain to squeeze until the last penny drops. Big corporations like Google don’t care about the internet being useful to people, they have only one objective: make number go up. And if that means smashing the web to pieces, you can guarantee they’ll try.
Capitalism has squeezed every single person and institution.
Now, everybody needs to bend the rules and purposes to make money. SEO, bots, AI, takeovers, IPO, investments, cash grabs. Everybody’s an exception.
I love the internet. I’ve loved technology my entire life. But seeing it turn into what is has, has been awful to watch. To see family and old friends turn their backs on their morals, to speak to people willing to further a billionaire’s agenda. I knew a person who took a fat salary to be the person for a company who does something truly evil. I couldn’t believe it. I can’t say for who or what, there aren’t many people in their position, but what they do is tremendously evil. And why? Because it’s a job and it pays a fuck ton and previously they were really hard on money with their like five kids.
Capitalism, greed, and ultra weak moral compasses. I wish there were better options, but right now with who’s in power, it’s highly unlikely that anybody is able to learn any lessons without some serious turbulence. Makes me absolutely sick.
Highly recommend everyone read yasha levine’s surveillance valley for a lot of the specifics on this, looking at the internet in particular.