This is a very confusing post because of the stated vs revealed preferences of the author. I understand the author is angry because digital products don’t indef

This is a very confusing post because of the stated vs revealed preferences of the author. I understand the author is angry because digital products don’t indefinitely continue to live up to their expectations and they lose the culture and community when those spaces change or shut down. They’re also aware, at least partially, that these products are not free to run. They’re run by people that moderate, write software and often buy and operate physical hardware. These people want to make money, sometimes a lot of money. Many times, the products would not exist at all without outside investment. The investment terms come with assumptions about growth and profitability. Absent this money, the same products the author loves would not exist. If the author wants little communities that make little things with only a little bit of profit, there is no better time than now to publish a self hosted web site or forum. It is easier now than ever. Except they’re publishing their writing on Substack, yet another VC backed publishing product (that I like FWIW). Substack will go the exact same direction as twitter, if they’re fortunate enough to not die in 5 years. Running software businesses is hard. Communities can and should self organize if they want to own their spaces online. Be the change you want to see, if you really do want it.