An era of the internet is ending, and we’re watching it happen practically in real time. Twitter has been on a steep and seemingly inexorable decline for, well, years, but especially since Elon Musk bought the company last fall and made a mess of the place. Reddit has spent the last couple of months self-immolating in similar ways, alienating its developers and users and hoping it can survive by sticking its head in the sand until the battle’s over. (I thought for a while that Reddit would eventually be the last good place left, but… nope.) TikTok remains ascendent — and looks ever more likely to be banned in some meaningful way. Instagram has turned into an entertainment platform; nobody’s on Facebook anymore…
Outside was the first place to be enshittified. I crave third-place, but it hasn’t really existed for decades.
I just finished the Behind the Bastards podcast on Vagrancy. the destruction of the third place and destroying the ability to be anywhere for free without being hassled by the law has changed a part of America that was great. The freedom to exist is becoming elusive. The freedom to find common space with like minded people, that’s becoming hard to find too. I hope this place helps.