>> And those who cultivate those plots outside of these walls face pressures to conform to the whims of the businesses in hopes that the pathways remain open. O

>> And those who cultivate those plots outside of these walls face pressures to conform to the whims of the businesses in hopes that the pathways remain open. Otherwise, they might toil away in silence, rarely seeing visitors like they one day used to. I feel like this paragraph sums up the root of the issue. IF your main concern is "I want lots of people to like my work, and by extension like me, and by extension validate my existence" then naturally we gravitate (literally a force of gravity) towards single common places. Since most people most definitely fall into this camp, common platforms win. If no-ones gonna read my post on Google+, why on earth would I share my profound ideas there? If the worth of my product is based on the number of followers and likes then it's logical to go to the place where those metrics are amplified. The nostalgia for the "good old days" is ultimately rooted in golden memories (sometimes, admittedly, delusional) of when we felt noticed, and valued, and cared for. For many of us that is "before adulthood" for some definition of "adult". Put another way, there are a LOT more high-school football stars than NFL stars. Of course the web of our youth -hasn't gone away- . You are as free as ever to build a blog, write your thoughts, as you ever were. In fact it's easier than it ever was. But how will people like it? Friend you? Follow you?