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#61 - The Internet Sucks Now... Here's Why
Have you ever wondered why so many people stopped using Facebook?
Have you ever wondered how exactly Amazon became the first website you think of when you want to buy something online?
Have you ever wondered why so many content creators who had built massive followings on YouTube and Instagram suddenly rushed to TikTok back in 2020?
Have you ever wondered why your experience on all of these platforms somehow gets worse and worse overtime?
You might say that too many old people started using Facebook so all of the young people left.
You might say that Amazon is just more convenient than any other online retailer.
You might say that TikTok’s algorithms are simply better and more effective than the ones on YouTube and Instagram.
And you might say that your online experience gets worse because there are too many ads and too many creators making the same trash content.
But is it really that simple? What if there was a predictable pattern that almost every online platform followed in the search for higher profits market control? What if you could take a look behind the curtain and see how these online platforms systematically kill competition and creativity… while forcing buyers and sellers, creators and consumers to participate in their little game of monopoly?
Well, in this episode, I’m going to read a brilliant article written by the author and journalist Cory Doctorow about the predictable ways that every online platform we know of eventually turns to shit.
Discover more of Cory’s work:
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