A pipe is like a mobile provider: it provides an infrastructure for data to flow, but not necessarily the terminals. Here too, if platforms open up full APIs th

A pipe is like a mobile provider: it provides an infrastructure for data to flow, but not necessarily the terminals. Here too, if platforms open up full APIs they’d be liable to become more like pipes for social data to flow through, to be displayed by third-party client of user’s choice. They can still offer a GUI and develop new features, it just has to be covered by an API. It’s an interesting thought experiment.