Social networks are killing the web

Remember CompuServe? If you do, you probably know that it was one of the early giants of the internet era, famous for its CD-ROMs and walled garden strategy. Like CompuServe's approach to keeping users locked into their ecosystem, today's social media platforms are attempting something similar, by punishing links.

"Killing" is a little hyperbolic perhaps, and the CompuServe reference will only mean something if you are of a certain age; but the point is valid.

Attention retention by all possible means

These platforms want you to stay on their domain, interacting with their content and consuming their ads. For them, a link to another website represents a threat. So they punish posts containing links, in some cases outright ban them!

Does Facebook Penalize Posts with Links? – Oneupweb

Monetizing social media platforms is all about keeping users on the site or app. Find out why Facebook penalizes posts with links – and what to do about it!

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Twitter Implements New Rules Banning Links to Other Social Platforms

Team Elon has pulled another controversial move, as they continue to re-shape the platform.

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The result? Many content creators (and even casual users), whose want to reach the largest possible audience, are forced to self-censor. Knowing that posts with links might have their reach reduced, they simply stop including them. This means fewer connections between information sources and less of the open, interconnected web that we have grown accustomed to.

Some try clever workarounds, like posting links in the comments instead of the main post. But even this tactic seems to be getting detected and punished by the algorithms. The message is clear: Links are not welcome.

LinkedIn links in posts or comments?

Where should you put your links? Pros and cons of each method.

John EspirianJohn Espirian

Why care about links?

The World Wide Web (specifically HTTP) was built on the idea of links.

HTTP - Wikipedia

Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.Contributors to Wikimedia projects

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, Hypertext is a way to link and access information of various kinds as a web of nodes - it's foundational building block of what makes the web the web. If we no longer have links to other nodes, is it still a web? Imagine Wikipedia without citations?

The slow (or not so slow) death of the World Wide Web has started.  (Sorry, more hyperbole - perhaps?)

The Slow Death of the Hyperlink - Slashdot

The decline of journalism has been attributed to many factors, from slow adaptation to the internet to the dominance of tech giants in advertising. But a veteran journalist offers a new perspective: the death of the hyperlink could be changing the fundamental nature of the internet, with significant…

Slashdot

By punishing posts that link out, they are breaking the very connections that make the internet great. Combine this with the deluge of hallucinated AI content (which is then harder to fact-check without links as supporting arguments/sources) and you have a very sorry evolution of the web.

%$£@ you, I won't do what you tell me

My tiny act of rebellion going forward will be to keep using links in my posts. I choose to sacrifice reach for value.

Might you do the same?