I mean there’s Reddit ofc, as well as Twitter in its entirety, Discord is implementing some dumb updates, there are issues with Tumblr as well as everything to do with Meta, and I’m sure there are plenty more (and I haven’t even touched other digital media, for example the Sims). Why is it all happening in the span of about a couple months?
Because capitalism, that’s why.
I don’t think there was ever any illusion that reddit or Twitter were operating as charitable organizations, or even as non-profits.
OPs question suggests there was at least some illusion !
Sure, and nobody would blame them if they simply tried to create a sustainable business with positive cashflow. The type of capitalism that is referenced here is the one where you squeeze every last penny out of the platform and would even sell your users trust, which your long term profit relies upon, if it means higher numbers in your quarterly report.
It’s probably just a relic of tech entrepreneurs being programmers rather than businesspeople, but there certainly is a real aversion to just boring, reliable profitably over time.
So you think your average MBA holder would not go the “extract short term value at all cost” route? Because it feels like they would. Maybe it’s more of a “the wrong people making it to the top” problem.