As we both know, social media feeds people's dopamine addictions. One of the fastest growing sub-sectors in the development field is "retention specialist." As in, your job is to figure out how to make the next page design and series of clicks just a little more addictive.
So, the "price" of our addictions is the willingness to give up our information... and that model might keep flying for another five, maybe ten years. Then "creeping elegance" will set in... we're always seeing the fringes of it: "premium" versions and little "mini subscriptions." Paywalls. At which point people will already be so addicted (especially "technological "natives" born 1995 and later) that there will be little question... "Oh well, $4.99 a month isn't that much...."
Really? Online content and info actually has very little value, at the individual level. The average FB account adds about $17 a year to Facebook's cause. Not a lot. Coercing people to pay $4.99 a month to still be able to access the "stuff" they (by then) have 15 + years invested in will be a walk in the park and TRIPLE their bottom line.
And guess what? They will still be able to filter content to show us only what THEY want us to see.
What's the answer? What's the reality? I keep coming back to the notion that most people don't WANT "personal accountability." They just want to hand off responsibility to someone else and watch another episode of "Keeping up with Kardashians."
Personal responsibility and accountability is what most ppl run from :P Anything but taking that load on :/ The attachment to time invested is a good strategy to exploit and gain more profits indeed. Self-knowledge is a basis to help free ppl and have them want be more responsible. Learn about psychology and attachment, then greater freedom is possible.