The internet isn't something that we can visualize very easily, so the metafors are our mental aids for thinking about the internet. The term platform is a framing that serves these major tech companies by making us think of their services in a particular way. And instead, you call them on line malls. What defines an online mall in your view? Well, i dislike the term platform. It fundamentally obscures what at these complex computational systems actually due to the benefit of the companies that run them.
Paris Marx is joined by Ben Tarnoff to discuss why the problems with the modern internet, including its excessive concentration in the hands of a few companies and the way its dominant firms shape our interactions to generate profit, find their root in the decision to privatize the network. To fix them, that needs to be changed.
Ben Tarnoff is the author of Internet for the People: The Fight for Our Digital Future and the co-founder of Logic Magazine. Follow Ben on Twitter at @bentarnoff.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
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