Sometimes, these companies" (big tech) "really are looking out for your interests. They have armies of moderators and security experts who block innumerable threats to your data, your identity, and your physical safety. But those companies will never block you from their own leadership: when your interests conflict with their plans, the fortress walls that keep bad guys out become prison walls that lock you in.

I know that this was a pretty popular article on the fediverse, but i just think its so well written.

What a well written paragraph. I love the analogy with fiddler on the roof as well. Subject matter is of course interesting to a denizen of AZ.

  • NathMA
    6·
    7 days ago

    It really distills down to what the point of the site is. Facebook and Twitter at their cores were good platforms designed to connect people. They were both pretty great at first.

    Then, the purpose of the sites changed into ‘make the most money’.

    I would like to know more about the “Access” act discussed in the article. I found Australian and US examples of Acts with that name, but neither was about the idea of forcing federation.

    • ZagorathEnglish
      3·
      6 days ago

      Facebook and Twitter at their cores were good platforms designed to connect people. They were both pretty great at first.

      Then, the purpose of the sites changed into ‘make the most money’.

      Literal textbook example of enshitification, which IIRC was coined by Doctorow. First you give value to the users, then you exploit the users to create value for the partners (your description skips over this step), then you exploit partners to create value for yourself. Then you die.