Discord, Twitter, Reddit, and Tumblr have all experienced the downside of corporate greed at the expense of users. These popular and widely used websites have encountered major obstacles in their growth and success because of corporate greed. As businesses evolve, management tends to push for higher profit margins, often leading to bizarre and sometimes brutal methods that can harm user experiences and ultimately lead to major issues for the sites.
One example of such a site is Tumblr. Originally established as a simple blogging site, Tumblr grew to become a hub for fandom and LGBT+ communities, among others. With a growing presence of adult content including sexual art on its platform, Tumblr faced mismanagement by site owners, Yahoo, which caused the platform’s worth to depreciate drastically. As a result, Tumblr’s new management banned all explicit content from the site, causing it to lose roughly one-third of its user base overnight.
Similarly, Twitter has undergone drastic changes since Elon Musk acquired it for $44 billion in 2022. Musk’s desperate need for cash has resulted in the introduction of a subscription service, layoffs, inconsistent moderation and increased accounts of hate speech and right-wing content. Massive lawsuits have been filed due to law violations in various countries.
Discord, originally meant as a voice chat platform for gamers, quickly grew to become an all-purpose communication and chat client. While the platform evolved and became more inclusive, the company later hinted at NFT and crypto integration despite the backlash it received.
Reddit, a platform functioning like an old-school forum for niche and popular topics, has also implemented changes like charging developers for access to its platform’s API to run them off the application in favour of the site’s first-party app instead.
While these websites provide countless benefits to users worldwide, corporations must take corporate responsibility and avoid squeezing profits out of the user base. Online platforms, social media and websites aren’t immune to the consequences of greed and money-grabbing tactics. Millions of people rely on the internet for various reasons, and corporations should prioritize creating a safe and inclusive online environment, rather than pushing for higher profits at any cost. Failure to do so could lead to the demise of otherwise successful and popular online platforms.
