The Web’s Missing Interoperability

The Web’s Missing Interoperability
stratechery.com

Namely, the points on how small businesses are affected by GDPR and anti-tracking / anti-cookie measures are fresh perspectives I've never thought of. To his point, all this is going to do is drive people to where the eye balls are, so instead of just marketing on Facebook (or Twitter, or Reddit) you want to market and convert your audience all on the same platform(s) because its increasingly difficult to do otherwise.

My counter point being of course, that this may have been inevitable anyway, since this really is increasingly the way people interact, is via apps like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit etc and less and less on the open web. Of course large corporations can and should and will kicking or screaming or no, comply with the laws, but little thought has been given how much those laws don't disrupt the fundamental problem: disrupting the stranglehold these companies have on interaction. I think a good amount of the GDPR, and Apple's recent moves have good ideas and net wins, but after reading this article, I can also see how it will simply, in the long term, act as a form of regulatory capture where only the largest entrenched companies can comply and small companies, particularly non tech small businesses, will be increasingly more reliant on those platforms going forward.

The solution isn't of course, to get rid of things like the GDPR, but like all laws and regulation, it needs to be re-thought and re-shaped as it affects the marketplace, and that's the crux of the problem, most regulation is set it and forget (particularly in the US) where there is little after thought given or follow up to it and augmenting it appropriately to minimize real downsides (not perceived ones that corporations complain about, but more barriers it creates to new businesses) and asking the question of is this acceptable or do we need to re-think some aspect of this?

I know this won't play that well either, its not going to be a popular debate among my peers, but its important we consider all the facts, none the less.

[0]: I may be reducing the article a little too much here, forgive me, I really do think everyone should read it first

I almost achieved escape velocity with Matrix/Riot in my gaming group a couple years ago. Ultimately it was too buggy for them at the time and we ended up on FB messenger, but if it had worked they'd all be primed to join a Matrix-based social network right now.