The Myth of Decentralization and Lies about Web 2.0 · EmilyGorcenski.com

During the first era of the internet — from the 1980s through the early 2000s — internet services were built on open protocols that were controlled by the internet community.


During the second era of the internet, from the mid 2000s to the present, for-profit tech companies — most notably Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon (GAFA)

the internet complex was promoted as inherently democratic, decentralizing, and anti-hierarchical.