Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.

Cory Doctorow is a got-dang witch. This was about Tiktok and it was written in January. Literally describing the process to a T.

Jerboa keeps logging me out of my account lol.

And poor Lemmur won't even recognize Beehaw.org at all at the login screen.

It's pretty quiet last time I checked. Divolt is a privately hosted version used by Lemmy's freemedia community and I honestly think it has more users.

Overwatch 1 is a prime example in recent memory. I preordered the damn thing and got the fancy skin. I will probably never be able to play the sunsetted maps again. Never be able to recreate the broken fun of the first month after launch, when people would randomly form identical hero meme comps in quick play. Never be able to go back to before the battle pass, when you didn't functionally have to pay to unlock new heroes.

It's a damn shame. Capitalism corrupts everything I love.