"The internet you experience daily-endless scrolling, algorithmic feeds serving content you didn't ask for, AI-generated slop clogging search results-isn't the only internet available. It's just the one that's easiest to stumble into. You're not stuck with the internet that has evolved alongside the rise of hegemonic platforms. We're 20-plus years into the social internet, and the winners of the last round of audience capture have made clear they're shifting to optimize for social broadcasting instead of networking, to maximize market share and market cap."
"The algorithmic feed-that endless scroll of content chosen by platforms optimizing for engagement over everything else-is optional. You can opt out. Any of these steps will reclaim your attention as the finite resource it is, rather than letting it become a commodity that platforms extract through sophisticated design. Escape the algorithm-get off Big Social: This is hard. Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and X are where you've spent years curating connections and actively following people."
The dominant social internet centers algorithmic feeds, endless scrolling, and platform designs that prioritize engagement and market share over individual experience. Algorithms extract attention and commodify human focus through curated feeds and AI-generated low-quality content. Individuals can opt out and reclaim attention by choosing alternatives, adjusting settings, or leaving big social platforms. A ladder of engagement offers escalating steps: simple changes like using chronological views or curated lists, to more committed actions that shift consumption, curation, and creation practices. Each personal act of self-determination reduces reliance on corporate algorithms and builds a distributed resistance to platform enclosure.
Read at Reason.com
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