Hey Hackers!
Welcome back to
This week, we’re talking about the open internet and the risks that plague it.
Brainrot and slop are two terms that have risen in popularity and use within the last year or so, and many people on social media point out that the quality of content everywhere has seemingly gone down. Other people point to overmoderation as one of the biggest risks. Everyone has a different opinion, but we want to know what the HackerNoon community thinks. Plus, we’ll talk about the overall future of the internet.
HackerNoon Poll:
It feels as if the internet is in a rocky state, and it can tumble at any moment. In your opinion, what's the biggest risk to the open internet?
By far the winner of the poll was the option, “Declining content quality.” Falling behind in second place with 22% was the “overreliance on algorithms.”
The other three options were very close to each other:
- “Overreliance on algorithms” won third place with 19%
- “Paywalls” and “Other” tied with 15% each.
But what does “Other” even mean? One HackerNoon commenter had this to say:
I would have to say all of the above - Or better yet human greed and conflict generation. The sociopath psychopath tendency.
Some HackerNoon community members have talked about the declining quality of internet content for a while.
Theo Priestley, in his article, The Internet Is Dead. Long Live The Internet., said this:
The long term consequences are such that pretty much nothing on the internet will be human created or curated, nor even read and digested by people either.
And other HackerNoon members, including HackerNoon CEO David Smooke, have talked about the harm of paywalls and monetizing the internet. In his article, How Paywalls Destroy the Distribution of Quality Ideas, Smooke quotes Rob Howard on the topic of paywalls:
“The paywall is inherently in conflict with journalism’s primary goal: to educate and inform the public about important issues. When the papers say, “this is so important that we’re making it free,” they’re simultaneously saying that all the other stuff they publish doesn’t really matter, so they’ll charge you for it. It’s hard to imagine a business philosophy that’s more upside-down." -
Rob Howard
That’s the HackerNoon community’s stance on the subject. But what does the rest of the internet think of, well, the internet? Let’s take a peek at what other communities think will happen to the internet in the future.
Want to say your piece? Share your thoughts on the poll results
🌐 From Around the Web: Polymarket Pick
Who will acquire TikTok?
The internet is constantly changing; platforms shut down, and some get absorbed. Some voters over at Polymarket believe there’s a slight chance that TikTok is acquired by a competitor.
According to the Polymarket community, there’s a 4% chance of either Meta or Microsoft acquiring TikTok. However, Amazon, Elon Musk, and Walmart aren’t far away with a 3% chance each. The chances don’t appear to be very high, but stranger things have happened.
🌐From Around The Web: Kalshi Pick
US bans social media for children this year?
Australia has recently banned children under the age of 16 from certain internet platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. The Kalshi community believes there is a 9% chance that the United States enacts a similar law before 2027.
This is a steep fall from the 18% chance it had in the middle of December, however, it’s still better than the 6% chance it had in early January.
The future of the internet seems to be uncertain, but there is one thing that you can count on: HackerNoon will always be a place where you can read amazing, evergreen articles.
That’s it for this time.
Until next time, Hackers!