🥲 Bad Incentives Ruined the Internet

The main reason for the harm today’s internet platforms cause is the misalignment in incentives between users, creators & the platforms — or demand, supply and platform incentives. And a lot of it comes down to advertising-based business models.

One of the biggest motivators we observe is the power of subcultural capital - or what we call the “hipster incentive”. It’s an important interpretation of Bordieau’s work on the value of cultural capital in defining our position within society -- the hipster incentive is grounded in our need for status or social capital.