Social · Platform

Open-protocol microblogging with chronological and custom feeds, no ads, and portable accounts—though $100M+ of venture money will eventually want a return.

Strong real-time product for communities, but your social graph and server history are deeply embedded—switching means rebuilding social capital elsewhere.

The canonical enshittification case: a feed that once showed your friends now serves ads, recommended posts, and AI content to an ageing, shrinking audience.

Photo sharing turned short-video storefront: Reels, ads, and shopping crowd out the people you follow, while Meta's AI and ad systems mine every interaction.

The default résumé graph for many industries, increasingly monetized via feed ads, recruiter tools, and upsells—users are the inventory.

Federated microblogging with no single owner; rough edges, but user surplus and exit to other instances is real.

Mature platform shifting value toward advertisers, mods as unpaid labor, and product changes that prioritize engagement over quality.

The most effective attention machine yet: a recommendation feed that pays off for viewers while ads, TikTok Shop, and creator payout swings shift value to the platform.

API paywalls, algorithmic feeds, verification products, and ad load shift surplus toward the operator and advertisers—classic extraction on a still-central public square.