Been thinking about this and want to know if it bugs anyone else.
It’s crazy to me that Twitter, Reddit and Facebook all cut off API access and people just went quiet on it. There was noise and complaints but no solutions. Usually when stuff like this gets locked down a counterculture shows up around it. Workarounds, open alternatives, people who make it their thing to keep it open. Like file sharing or ad blockers.
That didn’t really happen this time and I can’t figure out why. With all the propaganda and fake stuff out there right now, wouldn’t being able to see what’s spreading be important to understand? And isn’t them shutting it down a pretty large signal that it is important?
Maybe there’s a boring explanation I’m missing. But the part that gets me is the other possibility, that there’s some kind of suppression force we might not even be aware of.
Is that terrifying to anyone else or am I overthinking it? Just curious what people who were around for it think.
I really do see your point, but I don’t think you’re giving younger generations enough credit. There’s a growing movement of young people opting out of big tech. They’re dusting off their parents’ old iPods, going back to retro games, reading physical books, and so on.
Honestly, I’ve always considered myself a technologist, but with the direction tech is heading, I’ve decided to mostly opt out too.
So much of our technology has been compromised. The oligarchs who control it can use AI to fake whatever they want and push any agenda they like. The disruption you’re describing is nothing compared to the all-out psychological assault we’ve been under for years. Anything you try will get filtered out or buried by their countermeasures.
Open source is the best thing we have going for us. Even so, I think the best thing we can collectively do is… disconnect.
And reconnect IRL.