"There are observable phenomena that we can see from outside a platform as it goes bad. This follows a classic three stage process: Stage One: the platform is good to its end users. It has the capital to deliver a high-quality service. For instance, back when your Facebook feed only displayed friends' posts. Stage Two: the platform takes back some of the value that it was giving its end users and gives it to a group of business customers."
"Stage Three: all available surplus is taken away from the business customers and the end users. Publishers must pay to boost their content just so their subscribers can see it, and no one sees their stuff unless they post whole articles, with no link to their own website. Users stick around during Stage Two because they are locked in. There are lots of different ways that tech platforms can lock users in."
Digital platforms often begin by delivering high-quality services to users, enabled by available capital. Platforms then reallocate value from end users to business customers, extracting revenue through targeted placements and surveillance. In later stages, platforms extract all available surplus, forcing publishers to pay for visibility and erasing links to original sites. Users typically remain because of lock-in mechanisms that make migration costly or inconvenient. Recognizing the predictable three-stage process clarifies how platforms degrade over time and where interventions could prevent or reverse value extraction and harm to users and publishers.
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