> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://justincox.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Platforms Are Getting Much Worse - URL: https://justincox.com/blog/2024/12/platforms-are-getting-much-worse/ - Published: 2024-12-03T12:00:42.000Z - Updated: 2024-12-03T12:00:42.000Z - Description: This Just In: Platforms want us to know exactly who controls the internet. It’s not us, but it can be! - Author: Justin Cox - Tags: Publishing, This Just In, Social Media, #elon-musk, #ghost, #mastodon, #substack, #twitter I began my [crusade against platforms](https://justincox.com/blog/2023/02/the-era-of-centralized-platforms-is-over/) a few years ago. Multiple things prompted this belief, but Elon Musk’s purchasing of Twitter really opened my eyes. The [night Twitter died](https://justincox.com/blog/2022/11/the-day-twitter-died/), I listened to dozens of people mourn, reflect, and predict exactly what would happen next. While some of those predictions would end up wrong, *many* who warned about the reduction in free speech and access to journalism ultimately proved correct. Since then, platforms (*either spurred by Musk’s actions or encouraged by them*) have collectively gotten worse. X (*the platform formerly known as Twitter*) recently filed a brief in the Infowars bankruptcy hearing asserting that *it,* not you, owns *your* account. Here’s Jason Koebler at [404 Media](https://www.404media.co/xs-objection-to-the-onion-buying-infowars-is-a-reminder-you-do-not-own-your-social-media-accounts/?ref=justincox.com): > The legal basis that X asserts in the filing is not terribly interesting. But what is interesting is that X has decided to involve itself at all, and it highlights that *you do not own your followers or your account or anything at all on corporate social media*, and it also highlights the fact that Elon Musk’s X is primarily a political project he is using to boost, or stifle, specific viewpoints and help his friends. In the filing, X’s lawyers essentially say—like many other software companies, and, increasingly, device manufacturers as well—that the company’s terms of service grant X’s users a “license” to use the platform but that, ultimately, X owns all accounts on the social network and can do anything that it wants with them. Substack has moved to further lock-in creators by allowing users to *follow* instead of *subscribe*. While that is [reason enough to leave](https://justincox.com/blog/2023/04/we-have-to-talk-about-substack/), the *entire platform* is designed to legitimize hate speech. Here’s Anil Dash in “[Don’t Call it a Substack](https://www.anildash.com/2024/11/19/dont-call-it-a-substack/?ref=justincox.com):” > Substack is, just as a reminder, a political project made by extremists with a goal of normalizing a radical, hateful agenda by co-opting well-intentioned creators' work in service of cross-promoting attacks on the vulnerable. You don't have to take my word for it; Substack's CEO explicitly said they won't ban someone who is explicitly spouting hate, and when confronted with the rampant white supremacist propaganda that they are profiting from on their site, they took down... four of the Nazis. Four. There are countless more now, and they want to use your email newsletter to cross-promote that content and legitimize it. Nobody can ban the hateful content site if your nice little newsletter is on there, too, and your musings for your subscribers are all the cover they need. Google released a new iOS app feature called Page Annotations that automatically injects *new Google links* into search results. Imagine finding my site via Google, and instead of being able to click around and read more of my articles, you click links that take you *back* to Google. Here’s Casey Newton in [Platformer](https://www.platformer.news/google-page-annotations-eu-dma-antitrust/?ref=platformer-newsletter): > Automatically transforming text on the web into Google searches and Google ads is bad for a few reasons. One, it loads up web pages with low-value cruft. Two — in the case of page annotations — it forces publishers to opt out if they don’t like it. (And why would they?) And three, it’s a move that once again [highlights the way Google sees the web as something to be mined for value](https://www.platformer.news/google-io-ai-search-sundar-pichai/?ref=justincox.com), rather than as an independent public good that should be nurtured. With all of this nonsense, it’s no wonder the Oxford University Press proclaimed **brain rot** the [word of 2024](https://corp.oup.com/news/brain-rot-named-oxford-word-of-the-year-2024/?ref=justincox.com). These are egregious attempts to control the web. They’d be shocking if they weren’t already *normalized*. The [internet should be open and accessible to everyone](https://justincox.com/blog/2024/09/hitting-the-reset-button/), not controlled by billionaires who spend their time [poorly covering Lil Jon](https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/13/24295841/mark-zuckerberg-t-pain-single-get-low?ref=justincox.com). Thankfully, there are still people who believe in an open web. We need to support, use, and *pay for* alternative platforms that value portability and privacy. --- **Mastodon** is [my social media platform of choice](https://justincox.com/blog/2023/11/my-first-year-on-mastodon-and-the-future-of-social-media/). On Mastodon, you own your network, you own your content, and you can do what you want with it. Bluesky is supposedly decentralized, but the AT Protocol only exists for the service and isn’t available anywhere else. Also, Bluesky [recently took funding](https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/24/24278666/bluesky-working-on-premium-subscription?ref=justincox.com) from crypto folks, so take that as you will. On the other hand, Mastodon is freely available and *cannot* be owned by anyone (*sorry, Musk*). Individual servers *can be* owned, but if you don’t like that server, Mastodon allows you to take your entire social graph elsewhere. I’ve moved servers several times over the last two years and took all of my followers with me each time. Most didn’t even notice a change. While Threads is *slowly* adding ActivityPub support to connect with Mastodon, it remains to be seen if Meta will *ever* allow account moving. Why would they *want* us to leave when our very existence on the platform fuels their ad network? And yes, [ads are coming to Threads](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/meta-to-launch-ads-on-threads-in-early-2025?ref=justincox.com). I have an account on Threads and Bluesky, but they exist to repost what I share on Mastodon. One of the benefits of owning your web is choosing to **P**ublish on your **O**wn **S**ite and **S**yndicate **E**verywhere ([**POSSE**](https://justincox.com/blog/2023/02/the-era-of-centralized-platforms-is-over/)). I get *exposure* to the private networks on Threads and Bluesky, but I still control my content and social graph. --- As I said above, platforms want to *own* the content you post. I don’t know about you, but the idea of someone else [*owning*](https://justincox.com/blog/2019/07/understanding-who-owns-your-art/) my words because I didn’t read the terms of service is downright terrifying. I spent *many* years publishing exclusively on Medium, but now I will *only* publish on my website and *syndicate* to Medium (or elsewhere). I cannot foresee publishing anywhere I don’t control ever again. I’ve chosen to publish using a self-hosted version of [Ghost](https://ghost.org/?via=justin55&ref=justincox.com) (*affiliate link*), which powers both my website and newsletter distribution. Ghost, like Mastodon, is open-source and freely available, though you can pay for a hosted solution where you let them handle all the server administration. WordPress is another excellent publishing platform when you self-host. The paid version of WordPress has gotten strange over the last few months, [picking fights](https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/07/wordpress-vs-wp-engine-drama-explained/?ref=justincox.com) with other WordPress developers. If I’m using a service to share my work with the world, I don’t want that service at war with the community. Thankfully, all of that *risk* can be avoided by self-hosting and building your own website. You don’t have to worry about the terms when you control them! --- Google wants to control the entire internet. You know it. I know it. The [Department of Justice](https://www.platformer.news/google-breakup-chrome-doj-antitrust-remedies/?ref=justincox.com) knows it. So why give Google any power or access to your information? I’ve been using [Kagi](https://kagi.com/?ref=justincox.com) for about a year. It’s a *paid* privacy-focused search engine. The results are fantastic, not filled with “sponsored” results or AI-generated SEO garbage. Back in June, I wrote the following about Kagi: > The internet *should* be free. Information should be accessible to everyone without barriers. However, the major companies that control *how* we access this information are hell-bent on making the internet worse for everyone. The only way around that is to pay for services that respect privacy and provide a quality experience. Six months later, I’m convinced that Kagi is the search experience everyone deserves. I *wish* it were free, but I am not naive enough to know that a *free* version would lead down the same ad-ridden garbage path of its forefathers. --- Taking back control of the internet from platforms will not be easy. Their dominance in our lives is overwhelming, but it is *not* all-consuming. We *can* break their chains. When we *choose* a better version of the internet, we show developers that open, portable, and privacy-focused features *matter*. We show them that the ability to POSSE matters. We show them that we are not just a means to generate advertising revenue; instead, we are *humans* looking to connect with each other across borders and languages. This is the internet I grew up believing was possible, and this is the internet I will continue to fight for.