platform capitalism

You might also be aware that all this is delivered by means of “persuasive design”—an umbrella term for an armory of psychological techniques borrowed directly from the designers of casino slot machines, for the express purpose of encouraging compulsive behavior. One example among hundreds is the ubiquitous drag-down-to-refresh gesture, which keeps... See more

With the benefit of hindsight, it is now clear that Section 230—in combination with the wider overthrow of antimonopoly law and regulation in the 1980s and 1990s— cleared the way for the creation of an entirely new kind of communications corporation. Unlike publishers, these new legal constructs enjoyed the same freedom from liability traditionally... See more

We're living in this constant scroll, trying to make sense of the world around us within a world confined by the limitations of an algorithm that doesn't care about truth, coherence, or consequences, only engagement.

“Commerce and culture are locked in an ever-tighter embrace.”

To worship at the altar of mega-scale and to convince yourself that you should be the one making world-historic decisions on behalf of a global citizenry that did not elect you and may not share your values or lack thereof, you have to dispense with numerous inconveniences—humility and nuance among them. Many titans of Silicon Valley have made

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Copyright is a system notionally designed to help creators and their investors bargain with other parties in the entertainment industry supply chain. But DMCA 1201—as written and then expanded through a quarter century of practice and jurisprudence—turns copyright into a weapon that powerful intermediaries like Amazon can use against creative

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Recommendation algorithms have allowed large platforms to turn our attention into a solved game.

the rise of immensely powerful online communications and commercial platform monopolies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon with far-reaching control over news, debate, book publishing, music, television and film, online gaming, and how individuals and groups share information with one another