This essay does describe an unfortunate development of the internet. In days past, many of us considered it a possible asset to democracy in thought and education, a digital commons accessible to anyone with a computer.. Instead, it has contributed to a balkanization complete with paywalls and security excesses. I receive so many posts that express worthy plausible opinions and information, much of it overlapping, but many of these posts have a paywall extension. Why should I pay to learn someone's opinion, or even information I might obtain elsewhere? Monetizing public conversation feels unseemly, and as a matter of principle I have avoided paywalls. It is becoming more difficult to download items of interest as well.
Yes, what you describe is exactly what I'm getting at with this essay. The internet has been enshittified. As you say, the promise of the internet was that it would be a tool for democracy to open and flourish, and instead, it has completely torn the country apart, all because of the people who control the platforms. And this is no longer capitalism--as Yanis Varoufakis says in his book "Technofeudalism," technofeudalism is killing capitalism, because instead of people doing business with one another, the people running the platforms are making their money by extracting rents from us, through paywall and subscriptions.
this is exaclty the line of thinking and inquiry of my work at Common Planet. I look forward to your next one as it's near and dear to my heart. this is my answer for how we reclaim our commons: https://commonplanet.substack.com/p/the-creditism-evolution-from-debt
This essay does describe an unfortunate development of the internet. In days past, many of us considered it a possible asset to democracy in thought and education, a digital commons accessible to anyone with a computer.. Instead, it has contributed to a balkanization complete with paywalls and security excesses. I receive so many posts that express worthy plausible opinions and information, much of it overlapping, but many of these posts have a paywall extension. Why should I pay to learn someone's opinion, or even information I might obtain elsewhere? Monetizing public conversation feels unseemly, and as a matter of principle I have avoided paywalls. It is becoming more difficult to download items of interest as well.
Yes, what you describe is exactly what I'm getting at with this essay. The internet has been enshittified. As you say, the promise of the internet was that it would be a tool for democracy to open and flourish, and instead, it has completely torn the country apart, all because of the people who control the platforms. And this is no longer capitalism--as Yanis Varoufakis says in his book "Technofeudalism," technofeudalism is killing capitalism, because instead of people doing business with one another, the people running the platforms are making their money by extracting rents from us, through paywall and subscriptions.