JA WestenbergFeb 22, 2025

The social media billionaires want us to believe their putrid platforms are the “new town squares.”

That their half-baked social videos and for-you feeds have replaced the agora.

And that, somehow, we’re all better for it.

It’s the most overused, meaningless claim on the Internet.

https://www.joanwestenberg.com/the-false-promise-of-digital-public-squares-was-always-a-scam/

The False Promise of Digital Public Squares Was Always a Scam

The Ancient Greek agora was a place where students and citizens could freely gather, give speeches, engage in debate, and challenge each other.  Yes, it was a marketplace, a commercial hub where merchants sold goods from permanent shops (stoas) and temporary market stalls.  But it was so much more—a

westenberg.
Show threadLosMyke
@Daojoan @blaine These lines makes the story, “But their apps — virtual panopticons — have more in common with prison yards and shopping malls than public forums.
Instead of humans talking and interacting with each other in the open air, we’re corralled like cattle by engagement metrics that fundamentally alter our conversations. “
Feb 22, 2025 at 11:30pmWeb