On the one hand I can believe that people are getting more anxious because things are getting more bleak and it’s an op to get the whole thing blamed on social media.

On the other hand, it also feels like an op from social media companies to insist that their algorithms aren’t preying on people.

I read Chris Webber’s essay and I kinda agree. Bluesky is really just another twitter.

That being said I think we are entering into an era of diversification, not perhaps how we would like (through federation) but rather, through people understanding finally that the platform itself is making a choice in what kind of content it serves. We used to have this idea that the platform was just a “neutral third party” like a phone company. But in fact, it’s a publisher with its own editorial line. It pushes that line through algorithms and what voices it wants to amplify or suppress.

As people understand this more, they are going to be much more critical of not just “the media” but also “the platform” and why it chose to show that media to its audience.