War is erupting on social media, and its ramifications for the internet and our online experiences could be profound. Meta recently launched Threads, a social media platform similar to Twitter, which quickly gained over 100 million users. While this may seem like a clash between tech founders, it’s actually part of a larger trend toward increased chaos. Reddit recently faced a user protest, as parts of its site went dark in response to its decision to charge higher fees for data usage. Similarly, Twitch faced boycott threats and had to reverse restrictions placed on creators. It’s clear that change is sweeping through the world of social media, and it’s happening fast.
Having spent most of the past decade working at major social media companies, including briefly assisting Elon Musk after his acquisition of Twitter, I have a unique perspective on these recent skirmishes. I work for a firm that invests in social media companies like Substack and Reddit, and our general partner, Marc Andreessen, sits on the board of Meta. I believe these recent conflicts are interconnected and deserve our attention. They represent a fundamental rejection of the established norms of the internet and large tech companies. We may be entering an era where there are countless online spaces, giving consumers more power and rights than ever before.
To understand this shift, imagine the current large social networks as European nations at the beginning of the 20th century. These networks, much like monarchies ruled by CEOs, maintain an uneasy balance with their users and each other. Users agree to relinquish control in exchange for entertainment, utility, and an audience. If a network decides to kick someone out, they lose access to the platform and their audience. Leaving a platform means leaving one’s audience behind, as it cannot be transferred elsewhere.
These large social networks act like geopolitical neighbors, existing in a state of uneasy peace. They often introduce similar features in lockstep, such as when Instagram and YouTube copied Snapchat’s Stories feature. They also align ideologically in terms of content censorship. Major companies collaborate on how to handle sensitive topics, leading to what Stanford law professor Evelyn Douek calls “content cartels.” This prevailing monolithic culture has dictated how things are done.
In 1914, Europe appeared to be at peace, but tensions were simmering, ultimately leading to World War I. Similarly, in the first half of 2023, a series of online events has shattered the status quo of social media, sparking uprisings in several places. The economic domino fell first, as rising interest rates affected social media companies’ financials, forcing them to focus on revenue-generating consumer products and cut costs. The introduction of AI assistants like ChatGPT was the second domino, prompting social media sites to reevaluate their data usage and potentially limiting access to certain content. The third domino was Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, which set off a chain reaction, with other platforms implementing similar changes and Meta launching Threads as an alternative to Twitter.
These events point to the first major shift that could reshape the internet: decentralization. For over a decade, major internet platforms have been centralized, with services controlled by central teams, often based in Silicon Valley. Decentralized services aim to bring democratic principles to internet platforms, providing a credibly neutral network that resists centralization. Most importantly, users should have control over their accounts and data, being able to take their audience with them wherever they go. Decentralized services like Farcaster, Bluesky, and Mastodon have gained popularity as users voiced their concerns about platform management. Instagram has also hinted at supporting some form of decentralization in the future.
The second major development is a response from large internet sites against AI models, akin to raising the drawbridge of a castle. Sites like Stack Overflow and Reddit have increased prices for access to their data, impacting third-party applications and leading to ongoing protests and blackouts. We need new mechanisms for websites to exchange value with AI assistants, otherwise, we’ll see more barriers and user backlash. Legal action and content alliances among older sites may be solutions, but as a technologist, I hope the answers lie in coding and creative technological solutions to maintain an open internet.
For too long, the online world has been limited to a handful of options controlled by a few large corporations. It took technological breakthroughs and unrest to shake things up, and that’s exactly what’s happening now. While some may view this as chaotic and challenging, I, as an optimist who invests in technology entrepreneurs, see it as an age of innovation, where everyone has more choices and a say in how things are run online. Regardless, it’s bound to be an exciting journey.
Sriram Krishnan is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm, and a co-host of “The Aarthi and Sriram Show” podcast.
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