Internet Silos

      I blame Link-less Social Media for this. Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.

      It feels like social media sites divided up the turf when no was looking, so we are stuck with a series of localized monopolies. Youtube is the long form video, Facebook is where your local businesses, parents and grandparents are, Twitter was short form Text, Substack/Medium are fighting over long form text, Snapchat is for temporary posts, Discord is for chatting, Instagram is for pics, and TikTok is short form videos. While Reddit is there for links.

      These silos screw us over on so many fronts. The mini-monopolies lock us into their platforms once we build an audience or make enough connections. I personally would like alternatives and like diversity. Part of me almost would rather Apple, Meta, and Google have their own suite of options for us. Sure one might be better than the others, but We need choice so the algorithms can’t eat us.

      While there are some alternatives, especially for Twitter, the know platforms still have people locked in. Twitter has become the most nazi major platform on the internet and people just don’t seem to care. Especially journalists, sports writers, and talking heads.

      Other times major companies will steal ideas and force them on their platforms. FB/IG are infamous for this, and people don’t like it. Stories and Reels are just Snapchat and TikTok knockoffs. Meta did much better by making Threads its own thing instead of forcing in as another part of Instagram. Youtube also is forcing shorts down people’s throats of creators and viewers alike.

      Having a separate threads app makes it is own thing. You can tie it and link accounts as needed, but having it as a stand alone app makes it better for everyone. If I wanted just a twitter replacement, bam there it is. It has brought people into the short-text post space that otherwise would never have joined. It is not perfect, and Zuck is as awful a human as Musk is. But at least he is building something new instead of destroying something beloved.

      The other major Twitter alternative, BlueSky, is showing promise, and major growing pains. the journalists and sports media folk that have migrated are reporting better engagement than they had on X/Twitter. Because there is no algorithm. People can view what they choose to follow.

      For me, the algorithms are hurting us because we lack options. No company has to react to better engagement and change their algorithms. It’s like google and search, the monopoly allows for destructive algorithms. It allows them to force AI on us. (And that is a different rant for a different day Needless to say, Fuck AI. Don’t use it. Just don’t.) Bluesky is the great example here The people that migrate are enjoying the algo-free world, and even Bluesky’s make your algorithm. Imagine making sure you find what you want because you built the algorithm, And imagine just switching to it and away from it as needed with one click. Eventually, if it does not implode, X/Twitter will have to adjust to this.

      And if BlueSky, isn’t for you, there is Threads and Mastodon. Hopefully Mastodon will gain some traction, but I fear that their biggest selling point, being decentralized, is going to hurt it. The Fediverse is a whole suite of platforms to replace all the sites that currently monopolize aspects of the internet. Decentralization is hurting it. It is hard to build an audience there or find new things there. But at least they get it.

      AND THAT IS WHAT I WANT! To find new things. To listen to something new, see something new, learn about something new. that is what made me fall in love with Twitter first. That is why I still miss Google Reader, and Reddit before the IPO. They were avenues to show me new and interesting things. and the people behind those things. I miss that internet and the Social Media Silos are depriving us of that. We can get better algos, with better variety and diversity of Social Media Platforms.