Rejecting a Homogenous Internet
Rejecting a Homogenous Internet
On social media e-commerce, power consolidation, and dreaming better futures.
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I’ve been off TikTok for a few months now, and I don’t regret it at all. Despite my largest following being on that app (~92,000 people), over time I’ve become far more proud of my writing here than my video-based lectures. Besides, TikTok is a platform that promotes misinformation/radicalization, encourages reductionist takes on culture, suppresses content from marginalized voices, and erodes human attention spans. I’m incredibly grateful that I’ve been able to build a following on the app, especially with the style of long-form content that I do, but I am personally sick of the content suppression I experience, and I don’t want to contribute to the growth of the attention economy. (I’ve also been busy making lectures for my summer class, which involved spending hours scripting/filming/editing videos during work hours, so I didn’t want to spend all my non-work hours doing the same.)
Never have I been more proud of “quiet quitting” video creation than this past week, when I first heard of TikTok Shop, a new e-commerce platform that takes place entirely within the TikTok app. Creators with only a few thousand followers are able to make short videos promoting links to cheap consumer goods, and if their followers buy the product using their link, creators get a small commission. This isn’t drastically different from affiliate marketing that we’ve seen with, for example, Amazon links in YouTube video descriptions or Instagram/Snapchat’s Shop tabs. However, it represents something greater about the state of capitalism and the modern Internet that I think is worth discussing.
TikTok Shop is currently unavoidable on the app. Unlike Instagram and Snapchat’s versions, TikTok Shop is not relegated to a separate part of the app that you don’t have to click on if you don’t want to; every creator who has set up a TikTok Shop now has a list of their recommended products right on their profile page. And perhaps more importantly, TikTok Shop ads have completely taken over the app, to the point where every other video you see on the For You Page is one where a random creator is slinging a random product on the service. I don’t blame influencers for this—they’re simply taking advantage of a new source of income, and they need to eat—but the fact that this e-commerce functionality is impossible for most users to avoid is utterly dystopian.
The divide between normal content and advertisement was shattered long ago. First came the rise of product placement in media in the early 20th century. Then came the Reagan administration’s lifting of restrictions on how we advertise to children, hence products like Transformers and Power Rangers being turned into 30-minute toy commercials. Then came influencer marketing, where random creators (or I guess non-humans now) could be turned into shills for earphones and VPNs for a fraction of the cost of professional TV actors. And now, the integration of e-commerce is seamless; you scroll through social media, you see your favorite media personality showing off a skin cream, and you buy it instantly without even having to the leave the app.
It’s all getting me to ask: how long will this last? How far will we go in the unethical practice of advertising to children, who can’t discern between normal media and content engineered to sell them products? At what point will we all tip over into consuming advertisements 24 hours a day?
It may be appropriate to bring up the YouTube “Adpocalypse” here. Adpocalypse is the colloquial name for the gutting of advertiser revenue on YouTube, circa 2017. Essentially, YouTube used to attract semi-respectable advertisers on their site; when you loaded up a video, you could see an ad for Disney, Hasbro, Epic Games, or AT&T. Then, after a series of “high-profile” incidents (translation: cable news talked about it, not just other YouTubers) including PewDiePie being a racist and Logan Paul being a racist, advertisers started pulling out of the platform. These companies realized that literally anybody can make a YouTube video, so they didn’t want to risk their brand image tarnished with bigotry and hate. Fair enough, although this did result in many smaller creators getting much lower paychecks for their work, especially animators who make short-form content that isn’t prioritized under YouTube’s Watch Time-based entertainment model.
Even on platforms that aren’t YouTube, creators make a pittance by monetizing their content, hence secondary platforms like Patreon and Ko-fi. Speaking of which…
Even I was very nearly duped into signed up for the TikTok Creator Fund until realizing what that really meant. TikTok pays me when I get more views, but TikTok more or less directly controls how many views I get by throttling videos with trending topics and suppressing ones featuring conversations about systemic oppression or those that feature people it deems ugly/disabled, so in what world would I receive money for my videos? The bottom line is that being beholden to advertisers, or the companies that host those advertisements (Meta, ByteDance, Google, etc.) is not a sustainable income, unless you win the lottery and gain an absolutely massive following.
The integration of commerce into social media apps was inevitable when you consider what Big Tech is actually trying to do to the Internet. Elon Musk wants to turn Twitter/X into an “everything app”, a one-stop shop where people can send messages, make payments, apply to jobs, and subscribe to their favorite creators. Similarly, Facebook’s creator has tried for a long time to sell the public on the Metaverse, even going so far as changing his company’s name to do so. Walk up to any Crypto Bro and they’ll talk your ear off about “Web 3”, a vague term for the next iteration of the Internet, where crypto reigns supreme and, thanks to the blockchain, privacy is everything.
All of these groups have the same goal: to build the next Internet. One of the core anxieties of Silicon Valley tech bros is that they wish they could time travel back to the 80s/90s and invest in the early Internet, or more accurately, shape what it would become so that they could be its owners. Since they can’t, they’re dumping loads of money into building the infrastructure for an Internet that they can control, imagining that the power they stand to gain from leading the transition from the current web to “Web 3” will be as significant, or perhaps even more profitable, than the shift in power from the pre-Internet days to now.
To paraphrase a sentiment from James Stephanie Sterling, they don’t just want some of the money, they want all of the money. These companies and individuals are not trying to “connect people”, protect privacy, or make people’s lives easier via the seamless integration of multiple app functionalities. They simply want to be the ones to control everything; all communication, all commerce, all information.
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Luckily, none of them have been particularly successful at this, partially because the tech isn’t there yet and partially because the ad-copy narrative of “the next great place to connect” is pretty easy to see through. Twitter/X is obliterating privacy, removing two-factor authentication as a core feature for non-Blue subscribers, is actively monetizing far-right figures like Tucker Carlson, and has made free speech neigh-impossible by making it impossible for journalists to do their jobs. (Also, the idea that people would want to apply to jobs or upload their bank information to the same website where marginalized people regularly get harassed and doxxed for advocating for their rights is laughable.) The Metaverse has been such a failure that Meta is now quietly stepping away from the project, despite the billions of dollars they’ve sunk into it. And despite promises from tech bros that crypto would be a safe, private space for all, sex workers are being banned from these means of commerce just as they are from websites backed by whorephobic credit card companies.
That doesn’t mean Big Tech is not still trying to own the Internet, though. Power will always try to hold onto its power, and they are no exception. This is why social media e-commerce alarms me, despite seeming innocuous to the average user. The more time we spend on an app, the more money the app makes. The more content we create for an app, the more money the app makes. TikTok Shop is only going to get creators to make more free content for the platform, and it’s going to get everyday people scrolling longer and spending time and money within the TikTok ecosystem. (Why else would Meta and others see the app as such a threat?)
A homogenous Internet with a single website for all media is a bad idea. An internet where we only have one place to go means that the one company that controls it will have a monopoly on information. It means that one company will get to choose which products succeed or fail in the market. It means that one company will get to choose which voices get heard. I have a strong feeling that most people don’t want this. People don’t want to have a single platform or company rule over their lives, least of all marginalized people who have to deal with algorithmic oppression on a regular basis.
With the mass migration of users from Twitter/X, I’m excited about the possibility of a fractured Internet. I’m excited about having some platforms that are just for me and my friends, and some that are for my art. Most of all, I’m excited about this newsletter, which serves as a direct link between me and my audience without being beholden to algorithms!
Speaking of art, I have something else for you. I have been spending my summer learning how to DJ—another far more productive use of my time than making TikTok videos—and I’ve already posted a few mixes to YouTube and SoundCloud! Check out my new series where I do chores while playing music for you. My latest video, where I play house music while painting my nails, can be viewed below! <3
Enjoy and happy scrolling!
Currently Reading
More coverage on the trans refugee crisis, where trans people are moving from red states to those that support gender transition. Here in Western MA, a new LGBTQ-friendly boarding school opening in 2025 has received tens of thousands of applications, which just goes to show how desperate people are to receive care and be free of violence.
Related to tech’s domination of culture, haweya has a new essay on Spotify (and also a new mixtape of their own!!) It’s inspiring me to possibly ditch Spotify (I already have TIDAL) in favor of Plex!
Watch History
An up-and-coming trans YouTuber’s hilarious breakdown of every Razzie Worst Picture winner since the award’s conception.
Fashion essayist Mina Le’s excellent unpacking of clothing trends that amount to “dressing like a little girl”.
Leo Vader’s comedic coverage of fake-sounding jobs from rom coms.
Danielson Williams’ “First We Vibe” series entry on date night pasta, featuring Hozier.
Bops, Vibes, & Jams
Victoria Monét’s new album is a possible AOTY contender! Check out my faves, “Cadillac (A Pimp's Anthem)”, “On My Mama”, and “How Does It Make You Feel”.
I just discovered Chappell Roan, a Midwestern, curly-haired lesbian who makes gay glam rock, and I’m in love!! Listen to “Naked In Manhattan”, “Red Wine Supernova”, and “HOT TO GO!”, ideally in that order.
And now, your weekly Koko.
That’s all for now! See you next week with more sweet, sweet content.
In solidarity,
-Anna