this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023
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This is the business world in general. Consumers need to say to businesses in no uncertain terms that they cannot just do whatever they want and still remain profitable. Without users, there is no profit. Charging for the API would be completely acceptable and expected, but they decided to go the most cartoonishly villainous route possible. This is what a lot of companies are doing now. They have gotten far too used to the profits being free. We should teach them a lesson, collectively.
I'm 43. I lived a good amount of my life without the Internet and even more of my life without smart phones. Even after gaining reliable Internet access, I remember the times when the Internet was not just a few big companies. I just rediscovered one of the old forums I used to hang out on is still operating. They have an active IRC channel as well. Don't think we can't go back, big tech. It would be so easy to go back. Don't tempt me with a good time.
The more I read stories about Reddit cutting off third-party clients, Twitter turning hostile and YouTube trying to kick out people who run an adblocker, the more I start to think these media platforms should be run by non-profit entities. Fund it with donations, open source all the technical components.
The internet should be a utility so I kinda like where you're going here
reddit did both of those originally
but when they started taking private VC money they had to start making returns on that investment which spiraled into the current situation
I wonder what got them there. Maybe they planned to cash out at some point and needed funds to grow faster. Or maybe they weren't making enough money to keep Reddit running, and felt the need to bring on board external investors. In the second case, it's hard to say what they could have done differently. In theory someone could have picked up Reddit's source code if it went bankrupt and launched a new site. Several Reddit competitors have appeared over the years, like Voat. But they never really took off.
I'm curious to see how federation changes the game. It doesn't really matter all that much where your instance is, so if one instance has to shut down due to operating expenses it can't recoup, people can still move elsewhere.