“Traditional media” is broken. It’s an echo chamber for singular perspectives that are driven by business and other interests. Examples abound, but the perhaps the most clear was Washington Post’s recent failure to endorse any presidential candidate. It’s a billionaire owner making a decision not because it’s good for the public or the press, but to protect his interests from a certain outcome. It appears to have paid off, perhaps at the cost of the country.
“Social media” is broken. Algorithms control what we see, and what we see is an attention bubble full of engagement bait. Most social media platforms exist only to show us more of what we’ll engage with, rather than what we actually ask for. Platforms that don’t are struggling because people end up finding their feeds, while exactly what they asked for, boring in comparison.
So, what’s the solution?