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Realistically speaking social media companies should be regulated as public utilities. That's just recognizing the fact that they are natural monopolies. Saying

by dpc_pw 6y ago

Realistically speaking social media companies should be regulated as public utilities. That's just recognizing the fact that they are natural monopolies. Saying "delete your account, and practically ostracize yourself from public discourse into irrelevance" makes as much sense as saying "you don't like your water company? just use another one". Technically we could live in a society in which this is true, but in practice we don't.

DubiousPusher 6y ago
I'm a big fan of public utilities but those things are light years apart. Water 1 You must have clean water. 2 You cannot feasibly participate in some other water gathering project in your municipality. 3 Another water company cannot establish itself in your municipality Social Media 1 You do not need social media, there are many healthy ways to stay connected to friends and family 2 You have many choices of social networks where you can spend your time 3 The longest lived major social networks is like 10 or 15 years old and we really don't have any idea how penetrable the market is long term.
s5300 6y ago
>>Saying "delete your account, and practically ostracize yourself from public discourse into irrelevance" You know there's this big big gigantic thing called the internet and it's so incredibly big you can make your very own website with your own name on it? If you're relevant to public discourse, people will obviously go to your personal website. If not - maybe you're not so relevant as you thought.
- Silhouette 6y ago
  That's a cop-out. If there is one thing we have learned from the current generation of dominant tech services, it's that network effects can be hugely powerful in this space. A business with a strong enough network effect supporting its main product or service can, evidently, screw up in almost any other respect and still survive with its network intact and its share price untroubled. And that remains true even if those screw-ups can have catastrophic effects on many little guys who were affected.
riffic 6y ago
Is a commercial radio or broadcast television station a public utility as well?

by dpc_pw 6y ago

DubiousPusher 6y ago

I'm a big fan of public utilities but those things are light years apart. Water 1 You must have clean water. 2 You cannot feasibly participate in some other water gathering project in your municipality. 3 Another water company cannot establish itself in your municipality Social Media 1 You do not need social media, there are many healthy ways to stay connected to friends and family 2 You have many choices of social networks where you can spend your time 3 The longest lived major social networks is like 10 or 15 years old and we really don't have any idea how penetrable the market is long term.

s5300 6y ago

>>Saying "delete your account, and practically ostracize yourself from public discourse into irrelevance" You know there's this big big gigantic thing called the internet and it's so incredibly big you can make your very own website with your own name on it? If you're relevant to public discourse, people will obviously go to your personal website. If not - maybe you're not so relevant as you thought.

Silhouette 6y ago
That's a cop-out. If there is one thing we have learned from the current generation of dominant tech services, it's that network effects can be hugely powerful in this space. A business with a strong enough network effect supporting its main product or service can, evidently, screw up in almost any other respect and still survive with its network intact and its share price untroubled. And that remains true even if those screw-ups can have catastrophic effects on many little guys who were affected.

riffic 6y ago

Is a commercial radio or broadcast television station a public utility as well?