The Depressing Reality Of Living In A Social Media Oligopoly

The past few years have been an absolute PR nightmare for most social media companies.

From privacy concerns, to the weaponizing of bots to spread disinformation while site owners look the other way, to providing a platform where hate speech and radicalization thrive - it hasn’t been great for giants like Facebook and Twitter recently.

That’s not taking into account the smaller but still problematic issues of algorithms controlling content all in the name of advertising dollars, the very addictive nature of getting likes/comments/follows, and the subsequent depression when you don’t; or when you think everyone else is living a better, happier, more fulfilling life than you because they’ve curated their feed in a way that invokes such emotions.

All of those things differ in their levels of severity, but by far the biggest problem of them all - is that there’s very little we can do about any of those things.

We’re already in too deep.

We’re living in a social media oligopoly. 

A world where a limited number of companies control it all.

Facebook has taken blow after devastating PR blow; from their role in allowing a hostile foreign power use bots to spread fake news and propaganda, to the scarily invasive amount of user data they store and sell to anyone who asks for it.

But who’s the alternative to Facebook? Myspace? How many apps require a Facebook account to use? How many of us would still keep in touch with the family and semi-estranged friends we do if not for Facebook?

Sure, you can choose to leave, and plenty do; but there’s no alternative to them if you were still looking for a similar, yet ultimately safer/less evil platform to migrate to. It’s either Facebook or nothing.

Twitter provides nazis, right wing extremists, other hate groups, and troll bots, a safe haven to spread their hate and disinformation. Sometimes, they’ll even temporarily suspend users who negatively engage with such accounts, if they use aggressive enough language. Meaning you can get suspended if you call someone a “fucking nazi,” but the actually fucking nazi gets to keep tweeting garbage. 

Sure, you can choose to leave; but again, where are you gonna go? What other platform allows for companies, celebrities, politicians, and everyday people to microblog about the world in real time, on the scale that Twitter does?

Instagram is the place for photos and stories. They also have the worst algorithm of any social media platform and it’s not even close. But if you’re a fashion blogger, or a photographer, or an aspiring model - where else can you grow a following as big and as quickly as you can on Instagram where if those algorithm gods favor you, the trajectory of your life can change?

You’re not gonna quit Instagram just because it sucks 95% of the time. There’s nowhere else for you to go.

Tumblr recently decided, out of nowhere, that it’s going to stop allowing NSFW content of any kind on their site. This will devastate erotic artists, sex workers, and anyone sexually curious/confused/insecure, particularly those in the LGBTQ community.

Don’t like it? Want to show them you disagree with their decision to ban anything they deem explicit? Great. Where are you gonna go? What rival site can hold the same volume of users/traffic and has as much cache in their field.

Every site serves a niche function, and in the process, destroys all competitors. 

Want to keep in touch with distant friends and family? Facebook.

Want to blog or keep up on the day’s events in real time? Twitter.

Want to post pictures and stories? Instagram.

Want to watch videos? Youtube.

Want to run a creative blog with a healthy blend of gifs, pictures, and text? Tumblr.

Want to make a mood board? Pinterest.

Regardless of how much those apps may suck, regardless of how much data they’re secretly storing, regardless of the changes they make that nobody asked for, regardless of the shameless allegiance to their shareholders and advertisers at the expense of their users - you’ve got two choices: Use them, or don’t.

There’s no rival site/app you can run to, to show your disdain and force these companies to improve their product.

We are the product. And there’s plenty of us to go around. 

Even if you leave in a symbolic gesture of self righteousness, there’s another hundred people creating an account to the same site you just left.

The beast is too big to take down. Too big to fail.

That’s what happens when you live in an oligopoly. 

There is no fair choice. No competition. No alternatives. Only the illusion of such.