Though I would definitely argue that the internet contributed to, eg, amazon and dotcom bubble, and that it has tended to solidify oligarchic control of information rather than the reverse, I think I have to concede that overall independent economic factors play a larger role.
Right, consolidation of the internet under a handful of large companies has been a big concern. Notably, that’s precisely why stuff like the fediverse is so important. Decentralized social media that’s run by regular people is precisely how the internet was meant to function. I’m optimistic that things are looking up in that regard. Platforms like Mastodon and Lemmy are still niche, but they’re starting to gain momentum and they show a path forward. It’s encouraging to see that people are actively tackling the problem and we have tangible results to show now. The fact that we’re having this discussion here as opposed to a closed platforms like Reddit is a huge success.
I could imagine trying to have this conversation on reddit- but I’d prefer not to. I’d be whacking down a hundred trolls and a dozen bots for each genuine reply.
Lemmy is starting to feel like reddit back before it was evil. I’m already anxious for its enshittification.
That’s the beauty of open source platforms, the dynamics are very different. With a commercial company you’re stuck with whatever the company decides, and that’s what drives enshittification. Companies ultimately exist to make money for the owners and the shareholders. The users aren’t actual stakeholders on these platforms in any meaningful sense.
On the other hand, open platforms are developed by regular people because they want to have publicly owned social spaces. Even when a project starts going in a bad direction then anybody can fork the code and take the project in a different direction, and anybody can run a server the way they like.
I wrote an article on the subject a little while back, talking about these dynamics in more detail https://justiceinternationale.com/articles/2020-12-02-we-must-own-our-tools/