Why does it feel like we're at a point where every social media + other digital media are making shitty decisions and falling apart?
I mean there's Reddit ofc, as well as Twitter in its entirety, Discord is implementing some dumb updates, there are issues with Tumblr as well as everything to do with Meta, and I'm sure there are plenty more (and I haven't even touched other digital media, for example the Sims). Why is it all happening in the span of about a couple months?
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Because capitalism, that's why.
This is the correct answer. Even the most hardcore capitalists have to realize that endless year-over-year growth is impossible. The invisible hand will eventually correct the market -- we may be seeing the start of that now, and it's going to affect the biggest first.
The fact that they continue this cycle of "extract every last drop of money and then move on to the next big thing" shows they really don't. They're more than happy to wreck everything as long as they have enough cocaine to hold them over.
I don't think there was ever any illusion that reddit or Twitter were operating as charitable organizations, or even as non-profits.
Sure, and nobody would blame them if they simply tried to create a sustainable business with positive cashflow. The type of capitalism that is referenced here is the one where you squeeze every last penny out of the platform and would even sell your users trust, which your long term profit relies upon, if it means higher numbers in your quarterly report.
It's probably just a relic of tech entrepreneurs being programmers rather than businesspeople, but there certainly is a real aversion to just boring, reliable profitably over time.
So you think your average MBA holder would not go the "extract short term value at all cost" route? Because it feels like they would. Maybe it's more of a "the wrong people making it to the top" problem.
OPs question suggests there was at least some illusion !
You're not wrong. It seems that some people are inevitably always going to be under that illusion.