Was instagram genuine and organic at first ? it would be interesting to understand why IG became a faux marketing department, or if it quickly became so naturally.
It's nice to see that tiktok doesn't devolve into a soul sucking fake life stream.
It's the Eternal September effect but for self-promotion.
IG was "genuine" when people were fleeing there in droves to escape the parents and grandparents that had turned FB into a PG-rated blandscape of baby and family pics.
At the time, IG was this new thing that seemed to focus on artistic self-expression. This was when IG filters just recoloured your photos, and didn't smooth out wrinkles or add dog ears and tongues.
At some point people realized that you could take photos with product placement, and it was all downhill from there.
God.. beyond the sad but obvious pattern. It seems the web is just a incoherent runaway. New "platform" > bubbly phase > distortion for bad incentives (money, fame, else) > rot > abandonment for next "platform".
It was fun to observe that during the myspace days but it's getting annoying.
Huh it's funny. When you put it that way is sounds like all those same arguments people have been making against crypto - except the fallout from the "rot" phase of crypto will have very significant real world consequences.
It's as if people who have been on the internet since those days can easily see what's coming.
Plausible, except I think crypto ending up as yet another asset class might enjoy a longer life because, allegedly, institutions are playing in it now. They can leave too though.
It's nice to see that tiktok doesn't devolve into a soul sucking fake life stream.