{"id":12284,"date":"2026-01-19T07:09:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T15:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/?p=12284"},"modified":"2026-01-19T07:09:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T15:09:56","slug":"billionaire-solipsism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/","title":{"rendered":"Pluralistic: Social media without socializing (19 Jan 2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--\nTags:\nsocial media, solipsism, billionaireism, ai, llms, chatbots, meta, facebook, zuck, mark zuckerberg, billionaire solipsism\n\nSummary:\nSocial media without socializing; Hey look at this; Upcoming appearances; Recent appearances; Latest books; Upcoming books\n\nURL:\nhttps:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/\n\nTitle:\nPluralistic: Social media without socializing (19 Jan 2026) billionaire-solipsism\n\nBullet:\n\ud83d\udc92\n\nSeparator:\n->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->\n\nTop Sources:\nNone\n\n--><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"xmasthead_link\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/19Jan2026.jpg?w=840&#038;ssl=1\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"toch1\">Today's links<\/h1>\n<ul class=\"toc\">\n<li class=\"xToC\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#sirius-cybernetics\">Social media without socializing<\/a>: For Zuck, your friends are a problem to be solved.\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"xToC\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#linkdump\">Hey look at this<\/a>: Delights to delectate.\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"xToC\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#retro\">Object permanence<\/a>: \"Among Others\"; Vagina tea-balls; MLK was a socialist; Planet Money's free Gatsby audiobook; Bounty for wiretapping lefty profs; Poe's graveside ritual; Sleep Mafia; Whence came tarps; GM's Dieslgate; NRO's octopus; Amazon solidarity; Billionaire-proofing the internet.\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"xToC\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#upcoming\">Upcoming appearances<\/a>: Where to find me.\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"xToC\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#recent\">Recent appearances<\/a>: Where I've been.\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"xToC\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#latest\">Latest books<\/a>: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"xToC\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#upcoming-books\">Upcoming books<\/a>: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"xToC\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#bragsheet\">Colophon<\/a>: All the rest.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><a name=\"sirius-cybernetics\"><\/a><br \/>\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse avatar, perched on a legless nude Ken doll body; its eyes are psychedelic pinwheels. Behind the figure is a group shot of child laborer miners from the 1910s, glitched out, blue tinted, and covered with scan lines. The background is a psychedelic swirl of moody colors. They stand atop a filthy checkerboard floor that stretches off to infinity.\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/zuvkermuskian-solopsism.jpg?w=840&#038;ssl=1\"\/><\/p>\n<h1>Social media without socializing (<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#sirius-cybernetics\">permalink<\/a>)<\/h1>\n<p>From the earliest days of social media, social media bosses have been at war with sociability. To create a social media service is to demarcate legitimate and illegitimate forms of sociability. It's a monumental act of hubris, really.<\/p>\n<p>It was ever thus. The founder of Friendster decreed that people could only form friendship bonds with each other, but could not declare themselves to be \"friends\" of everyone with a common interest. You and I could be friends, but you couldn't be \"friends\" with a group called \"bloggers.\" Each member of that group would have to create a reciprocal friendship link to see one another's feeds.<\/p>\n<p>Way back in 1999, Larry Lessig taught us that \"code is law.\" By encoding these restrictions into the feed, Friendster's programmers were putting limits on the kinds of relationships that could be formed using the service. But Lessig's law (code?) is often overidden by an even older principle: William Gibson's 1982 maxim that \"the street finds its own uses for things.\"<\/p>\n<p>Friendster told its users how to be friends with one another, and Friendster's users treated Friendster's management as damage and routed around it. They created accounts with names like \"New York City\" and whenever anyone friended that account, it friended them back. Users hacked their own way to form \"illegitimate\" friendships based on affinity into the system:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zephoria.org\/thoughts\/archives\/2003\/08\/17\/the_fakester_manifesto.html\">https:\/\/www.zephoria.org\/thoughts\/archives\/2003\/08\/17\/the_fakester_manifesto.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>As social media turned into a billion- (and then a trillion-) dollar business, the urgency of the struggle between how social media bosses demanded that we socialize and how we wanted to socialize only got sharper. Mark Zuckerberg doubtless thought he was covering all his bases when he tossed a casual \"It's complicated\" to the pulldown menu for defining your relationship status, but that's because he doesn't understand how complicated <em>all<\/em> our relationships are:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.phillymag.com\/news\/2013\/07\/10\/facebook-complicated-relationship-status\/\">https:\/\/www.phillymag.com\/news\/2013\/07\/10\/facebook-complicated-relationship-status\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For Zuck, crisply defined relationships were things that he could do simple math on in order to target ads, make recommendations, and sort users into categories. When you need to treat relationships as elements in a series of discrete mathematical operations, the fact that relationships are intrinsically, irreducibly qualitative is a serious bug. So Zuck did what computer scientists usually do when they want to do math on qualitative variables: he incinerated all the qualitative elements by quantizing them, and then did math on the dubious residue that remained:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/locusmag.com\/feature\/cory-doctorow-qualia\/\">https:\/\/locusmag.com\/feature\/cory-doctorow-qualia\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Zuck's biggest problem isn't the ambiguity of your social connections, though &#8211; it's that they exist at all. Think about it: Mark Zuckerberg <em>personally<\/em> makes or loses <em>billions<\/em> of dollars based on how much you socialize with your friends on his platforms. If your friends engage with you in ways that are low intensity and easily concluded (\"How'd you sleep?\" \"Just fine.\" \"That's nice.\"), then he loses. If, on the other hand, you and your friends get into protracted, intense interactions, he gets to show you <em>so many<\/em> ads and make <em>so much<\/em> money.<\/p>\n<p>Your friends are a problem for Mark Zuckerberg to solve, and (to his undying chagrin), you and your friends stubbornly refuse to organize your relationships around Zuck's financial imperatives. You just wanna hang out in the rhythms that are part of any friendship &#8211; sometimes intense, sometimes casual, often sporadic. I mean, honestly, if you're going to insist on just having <em>normal<\/em> friendships, how the hell can Mark Zuckerberg post the kind of growth his shareholders expect?<\/p>\n<p>This explains much of the drive to transform Facebook from a platform that shows you the things your friends post to a platform that mostly shows you things that \"content creators\" post. Your friends aren't motivated by the dangling possibility of viral dollars if they get you to \"engage\" with their posts, but for content creators, your engagement buys the groceries and pays the rent. By swapping out your friends and replacing them with people who are highly motivated to \"engage\" with you, Zuck gets a lever he can yank to get his users to arrange their conduct in ways that goose his growth.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, Zuck lured you in with the promise of having pleasurable online conversations that matter to you; and now that he's trapped you, he wants you to break up with your friends so you have more time to watch his community access cable station.<\/p>\n<p>It also explains Zuck's passion for filling his platform with botshit, and his plan to solve the loneliness epidemic by giving you chatbots instead of friends:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2025\/06\/26\/mark-zuckerberg-ai-friends-hinge-ceo\/\">https:\/\/fortune.com\/2025\/06\/26\/mark-zuckerberg-ai-friends-hinge-ceo\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For Mark Zuckerberg, all people are just shitty chatbots &#8211; chatbots that won't follow orders. He wants to be able to point us at one another in the hopes that we will simply prompt one another into endless chatter, with endless scrolling, and endless ad insertions. This works great with chatbots, not so well with people:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EtNagNezo8w\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EtNagNezo8w<\/a><\/p>\n<p>After all, Zuck doesn't really believe most other people exist. Read <em>Careless People<\/em>, Sarah Wynn-Williams's tell-all whistleblower memoir about her years at Facebook and you'll quickly realize that for Zuck, people are statistical artifacts, not co-equal beings worthy of moral consideration:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2025\/04\/23\/zuckerstreisand\/#zdgaf\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2025\/04\/23\/zuckerstreisand\/#zdgaf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Billionaires are plagued by solipsism. Not believing other people exist is a great aid to billionairedom, because it lets you amass your fortune without scrupling over the population-scale misery you're inflicting on the way:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2025\/08\/18\/seeing-like-a-billionaire\/#npcs\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2025\/08\/18\/seeing-like-a-billionaire\/#npcs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For Zuck, AI is the most exciting technology in history (even more exciting than the Metaverse, if you can believe it!) because it might give him the world he dreams of: a world without people, or, at very least, a social media network without any socializing:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/05\/fisher-price-steering-wheel\/#billionaire-solipsism\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/05\/fisher-price-steering-wheel\/#billionaire-solipsism<\/a><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><a name=\"linkdump\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h1 heds=\"0\">Hey look at this (<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#linkdump\">permalink<\/a>)<\/h1>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/heylookatthis3.jpg?w=840&#038;ssl=1\"\/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Congress Wants To Hand Your Parenting to Big Tech <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eff.org\/deeplinks\/2026\/01\/congress-wants-hand-your-parenting-big-tech\">https:\/\/www.eff.org\/deeplinks\/2026\/01\/congress-wants-hand-your-parenting-big-tech<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>AI companies will fail. We can salvage something from the wreckage <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/ng-interactive\/2026\/jan\/18\/tech-ai-bubble-burst-reverse-centaur\">https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/ng-interactive\/2026\/jan\/18\/tech-ai-bubble-burst-reverse-centaur<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Critical Perspectives on \"AI\" in Education <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/csusb.edu\/criticalperspectives\/home\">https:\/\/sites.google.com\/csusb.edu\/criticalperspectives\/home<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Public-private predicaments <a href=\"https:\/\/www.not-so-obvious.net\/public-private-predicaments\/\">https:\/\/www.not-so-obvious.net\/public-private-predicaments\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The Jolla Phone Proved We\u2019ve Been Using Smartphones Wrong All Along <a href=\"https:\/\/techglimmer.io\/jolla-phone-2026-review-kill-switch-privacy-review\/#Jolla\">https:\/\/techglimmer.io\/jolla-phone-2026-review-kill-switch-privacy-review\/#Jolla<\/a> (h\/t Hacker News)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr\/>\n<p><a name=\"retro\"><\/a><br \/>\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A shelf of leatherbound history books with a gilt-stamped series title, 'The World's Famous Events.'\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/worlds-famous-events.png?w=840&#038;ssl=1\"\/><\/p>\n<h1 heds=\"0\">Object permanence (<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#retro\">permalink<\/a>)<\/h1>\n<p>#20yrsago Nutjob offers $100 bounty to UCLA students who wiretap lefty profs <a href=\"https:\/\/news.slashdot.org\/story\/06\/01\/21\/1948206\/ucla-students-urged-to-expose-radical-professors\">https:\/\/news.slashdot.org\/story\/06\/01\/21\/1948206\/ucla-students-urged-to-expose-radical-professors<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#20yrsago Mysterious birthday ritual at Poe\u2019s graveside disrupted by rubberneckers <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20060212041742\/https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2006\/US\/01\/19\/poe.mystery.ap\/index.html?section=cnn_latest\">https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20060212041742\/https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2006\/US\/01\/19\/poe.mystery.ap\/index.html?section=cnn_latest<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#20yrsago DRM primer for librarians <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20060115061831\/https:\/\/www.ala.org\/ala\/washoff\/WOissues\/copyrightb\/digitalrights\/DRMfinal.pdf\">https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20060115061831\/https:\/\/www.ala.org\/ala\/washoff\/WOissues\/copyrightb\/digitalrights\/DRMfinal.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#20yrsago Hollywood\u2019s MP caught lying on tape <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20061010121359\/http:\/\/www.michaelgeist.ca\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;task=view&amp;amp;id=1080\">https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20061010121359\/http:\/\/www.michaelgeist.ca\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;task=view&amp;amp;id=1080<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#20yrsago Musician playing at Hollywood\u2019s MP fundraiser owes success to copying <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20080704112401\/http:\/\/accordionguy.blogware.com\/blog\/_archives\/2006\/1\/19\/1714267.html\">https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20080704112401\/http:\/\/accordionguy.blogware.com\/blog\/_archives\/2006\/1\/19\/1714267.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#15yrsago Book made using 4 daisy-chained printers spanning 100 years\u2019 worth of technology <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110111054908\/https:\/\/www.xavierantin.fr\/archive\/Just-In-Time\/\">https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110111054908\/https:\/\/www.xavierantin.fr\/archive\/Just-In-Time\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#15yrsago Assemblage octopus for sale <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110124175436\/http:\/\/jemayer.tumblr.com\/post\/2802328671\">https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110124175436\/http:\/\/jemayer.tumblr.com\/post\/2802328671<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#15yrsago Among Others: extraordinary, magic story of science fiction as a toolkit for taking apart the world <a href=\"https:\/\/memex.craphound.com\/2011\/01\/18\/among-others-extraordinary-magic-story-of-science-fiction-as-a-toolkit-for-taking-apart-the-world\/\">https:\/\/memex.craphound.com\/2011\/01\/18\/among-others-extraordinary-magic-story-of-science-fiction-as-a-toolkit-for-taking-apart-the-world\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#10yrsago Reminder: Don\u2019t put balls of tea leaves in your vagina <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-independent.com\/life-style\/health-and-families\/health-news\/women-putting-herb-balls-in-vagina-to-detox-their-wombs-have-been-warned-of-dangers-a6814671.html\">https:\/\/www.the-independent.com\/life-style\/health-and-families\/health-news\/women-putting-herb-balls-in-vagina-to-detox-their-wombs-have-been-warned-of-dangers-a6814671.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#10yrsago Martin Luther King, socialist: \u201ccapitalism has outlived its usefulness\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2016\/01\/18\/martin-luther-king-jr-celebrations-overlook-his-critiques-of-capitalism-and-militarism\/\">https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2016\/01\/18\/martin-luther-king-jr-celebrations-overlook-his-critiques-of-capitalism-and-militarism\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#10yrsago Debullshitifying the \u201csleep science\u201d industry: first up, sleeplessness and obesity <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160120210128\/http:\/\/askforevidence.org\/articles\/obesity-linked-to-not-getting-enough-sleep\">https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160120210128\/http:\/\/askforevidence.org\/articles\/obesity-linked-to-not-getting-enough-sleep<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#10yrsago England\u2019s most senior civil judge rules that Terrorism Act violates human rights <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2016\/jan\/19\/terrorism-act-incompatible-with-human-rights-court-rules-in-david-miranda-case\">https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2016\/jan\/19\/terrorism-act-incompatible-with-human-rights-court-rules-in-david-miranda-case<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#10yrsago Delhi\u2019s \u201cSleep Mafia\u201d control the nights of 100,000 homeless workers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rXzElV75x08\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rXzElV75x08<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#10yrsago Replica weapons made from thousands of cut and stacked post-its <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160109080110\/http:\/\/ercolimarco.me\/post-it-sculpture\/\">https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160109080110\/http:\/\/ercolimarco.me\/post-it-sculpture\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#10yrsago How the standard, high-quality disaster-relief tarpaulin came to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/01\/tarpaulin\/\">https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/01\/tarpaulin\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#10yrsago GM\u2019s Dieselgate: mechanics privately admit software update removes crimeware from Opel cars <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160121055745\/http:\/\/www.ft.com\/cms\/s\/0\/16ff471e-bdfd-11e5-846f-79b0e3d20eaf.html\">https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160121055745\/http:\/\/www.ft.com\/cms\/s\/0\/16ff471e-bdfd-11e5-846f-79b0e3d20eaf.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#10yrsago Griefer hacks baby monitor, terrifies toddler with spooky voices <a href=\"https:\/\/memex.craphound.com\/2016\/01\/19\/griefer-hacks-baby-monitor-terrifies-toddler-with-spooky-voices\/\">https:\/\/memex.craphound.com\/2016\/01\/19\/griefer-hacks-baby-monitor-terrifies-toddler-with-spooky-voices\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#10yrsago Spanish-language broadcasting titan Univision buys controlling interest in The Onion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.univision.com\/noticias\/univision-makes-investment-in-the-onion\">https:\/\/www.univision.com\/noticias\/univision-makes-investment-in-the-onion<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#10yrsago How the National Reconnaissance Office came to choose a sinister, planet-devouring octopus for a logo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muckrock.com\/news\/archives\/2016\/jan\/19\/octopus-NRO\/\">https:\/\/www.muckrock.com\/news\/archives\/2016\/jan\/19\/octopus-NRO\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#5yrsago Amazon warehouse union gets tech solidarity <a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2021\/01\/19\/deastroturfing\/#real-power\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2021\/01\/19\/deastroturfing\/#real-power<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#5yrsago Facebook's community standards <a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2021\/01\/18\/peak-indifference\/#community-standards\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2021\/01\/18\/peak-indifference\/#community-standards<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#5yrsago Honor MLK day with the Internet Archive <a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2021\/01\/18\/peak-indifference\/#mlk\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2021\/01\/18\/peak-indifference\/#mlk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#5yrsago Planet Money's free Great Gatsby audiobook <a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2021\/01\/18\/peak-indifference\/#gatsby\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2021\/01\/18\/peak-indifference\/#gatsby<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#5yrsago Pandemics and peak indifference <a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2021\/01\/18\/peak-indifference\/#peak-indifference\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2021\/01\/18\/peak-indifference\/#peak-indifference<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#5yrsago How to leak a Zoom meeting <a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2021\/01\/18\/peak-indifference\/#watermarks\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2021\/01\/18\/peak-indifference\/#watermarks<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#1yrago Billionaire-proofing the internet <a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2025\/01\/14\/contesting-popularity\/#everybody-samba\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2025\/01\/14\/contesting-popularity\/#everybody-samba<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#1yrago Canada shouldn't retaliate with US tariffs <a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2025\/01\/15\/beauty-eh\/#its-the-only-war-the-yankees-lost-except-for-vietnam-and-also-the-alamo-and-the-bay-of-ham\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2025\/01\/15\/beauty-eh\/#its-the-only-war-the-yankees-lost-except-for-vietnam-and-also-the-alamo-and-the-bay-of-ham<\/a><\/p>\n<p>#1yrago Fu-Schnickens <a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2025\/01\/17\/holy-batfu-its-an-apple\/#ba-schnicker-bah-snchnucker\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2025\/01\/17\/holy-batfu-its-an-apple\/#ba-schnicker-bah-snchnucker<\/a><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><a name=\"upcoming\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h1 heds=\"0\">Upcoming appearances (<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#upcoming\">permalink<\/a>)<\/h1>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A photo of me onstage, giving a speech, pounding the podium.\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/appearances3.jpg?w=840&#038;ssl=1\"\/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Denver: Enshittification at Tattered Cover Colfax, Jan 22<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/cory-doctorow-live-at-tattered-cover-colfax-tickets-1976644174937\">https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/cory-doctorow-live-at-tattered-cover-colfax-tickets-1976644174937<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Colorado Springs: Guest of Honor at COSine, Jan 23-25<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstfridayfandom.org\/cosine\/\">https:\/\/www.firstfridayfandom.org\/cosine\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Ottawa: Enshittification at Perfect Books, Jan 28<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DS2nGiHiNUh\/\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DS2nGiHiNUh\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Toronto: Enshittification and the Age of Extraction with Tim Wu, Jan 30<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/nowtoronto.com\/event\/cory-doctorow-and-tim-wu-enshittification-and-extraction\/\">https:\/\/nowtoronto.com\/event\/cory-doctorow-and-tim-wu-enshittification-and-extraction\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Victoria: 28th Annual Victoria International Privacy &amp; Security Summit, Mar 3-5<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rebootcommunications.com\/event\/vipss2026\/\">https:\/\/www.rebootcommunications.com\/event\/vipss2026\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Berlin: Re:publica, May 18-20<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/re-publica.com\/de\/news\/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow\">https:\/\/re-publica.com\/de\/news\/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Berlin: Enshittification at Otherland Books, May 19<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.otherland-berlin.de\/de\/event-details\/cory-doctorow.html\">https:\/\/www.otherland-berlin.de\/de\/event-details\/cory-doctorow.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/howthelightgetsin.org\/festivals\/hay\/big-ideas-2\">https:\/\/howthelightgetsin.org\/festivals\/hay\/big-ideas-2<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr\/>\n<p><a name=\"recent\"><\/a><br \/>\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A screenshot of me at my desk, doing a livecast.\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/recentappearances3.jpg?w=840&#038;ssl=1\"\/><\/p>\n<h1 heds=\"0\">Recent appearances (<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#recent\">permalink<\/a>)<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>Enshittification (Jon Favreau\/Offline):<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/crooked.com\/podcast\/the-enshittification-of-the-internet-with-cory-doctorow\/\">https:\/\/crooked.com\/podcast\/the-enshittification-of-the-internet-with-cory-doctorow\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Why Big Tech is a Trap for Independent Creators (Stripper News)<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nmYDyz8AMZ0\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nmYDyz8AMZ0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Enshittification (Creative Nonfiction podcast)<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/brendanomeara.com\/episode-507-enshittification-author-cory-doctorow-believes-in-a-new-good-internet\/\">https:\/\/brendanomeara.com\/episode-507-enshittification-author-cory-doctorow-believes-in-a-new-good-internet\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>A post-American, enshittification-resistant internet (39c3)<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/media.ccc.de\/v\/39c3-a-post-american-enshittification-resistant-internet\">https:\/\/media.ccc.de\/v\/39c3-a-post-american-enshittification-resistant-internet<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Enshittification with Plutopia<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/plutopia.io\/cory-doctorow-enshittification\/\">https:\/\/plutopia.io\/cory-doctorow-enshittification\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr\/>\n<p><a name=\"latest\"><\/a><br \/>\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A grid of my books with Will Stahle covers..\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/recent.jpg?w=840&#038;ssl=1\"\/><\/p>\n<h1 heds=\"0\">Latest books (<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#latest\">permalink<\/a>)<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>\"Canny Valley\": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\"Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It,\" Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/us.macmillan.com\/books\/9780374619329\/enshittification\/\">https:\/\/us.macmillan.com\/books\/9780374619329\/enshittification\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\"Picks and Shovels\": a sequel to \"Red Team Blues,\" about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (<a href=\"https:\/\/us.macmillan.com\/books\/9781250865908\/picksandshovels\">https:\/\/us.macmillan.com\/books\/9781250865908\/picksandshovels<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\"The Bezzle\": a sequel to \"Red Team Blues,\" about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (<a href=\"http:\/\/thebezzle.org\">thebezzle.org<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\"The Lost Cause:\" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (<a href=\"http:\/\/lost-cause.org\">http:\/\/lost-cause.org<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\"The Internet Con\": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (<a href=\"http:\/\/seizethemeansofcomputation.org\">http:\/\/seizethemeansofcomputation.org<\/a>). Signed copies at Book Soup (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.booksoup.com\/book\/9781804291245\">https:\/\/www.booksoup.com\/book\/9781804291245<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\"Red Team Blues\": \"A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before.\" Tor Books <a href=\"http:\/\/redteamblues.com\">http:\/\/redteamblues.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\"Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin\", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press\/Scribe 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/chokepointcapitalism.com\">https:\/\/chokepointcapitalism.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr\/>\n<p><a name=\"upcoming-books\"><\/a><br \/>\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A cardboard book box with the Macmillan logo.\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/upcoming-books.jpg?w=840&#038;ssl=1\"\/><\/p>\n<h1 heds=\"0\">Upcoming books (<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#upcoming-books\">permalink<\/a>)<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>\"Unauthorized Bread\": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2026<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\"Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It\" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\"The Memex Method,\" Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2026<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\"The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI,\" a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr\/>\n<p><a name=\"bragsheet\"><\/a><br \/>\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/colophon2.jpg?w=840&#038;ssl=1\"\/><\/p>\n<h1 heds=\"0\">Colophon (<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/01\/19\/billionaire-solipsism\/#bragsheet\">permalink<\/a>)<\/h1>\n<p>Today's top sources:<\/p>\n<p><b>Currently writing: \"The Post-American Internet,\" a sequel to \"Enshittification,\" about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America ( words today, total)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\"The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI,\" a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\"The Post-American Internet,\" a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr\/>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/by.svg.png?w=840&#038;ssl=1\"\/><\/p>\n<p>This work &#8211; excluding any serialized fiction &#8211; is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h1>How to get Pluralistic:<\/h1>\n<p>Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/pluralistic.net\">Pluralistic.net<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/plura-list\">https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/plura-list<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mamot.fr\/@pluralistic\">https:\/\/mamot.fr\/@pluralistic<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Medium (no ads, paywalled):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/doctorow.medium.com\/\">https:\/\/doctorow.medium.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Twitter (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/doctorow\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/doctorow<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com\/tagged\/pluralistic\">https:\/\/mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com\/tagged\/pluralistic<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\"<em>When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla<\/em>\" -Joey \"Accordion Guy\" DeVilla<\/p>\n<p>READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies (\"BOGUS AGREEMENTS\") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.<\/p>\n<p>ISSN: 3066-764X<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today's links Social media without socializing: For Zuck, your friends are a problem to be solved. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: \"Among Others\"; Vagina tea-balls; MLK was a socialist; Planet Money's free Gatsby audiobook; Bounty for wiretapping lefty profs; Poe's graveside ritual; Sleep Mafia; Whence came tarps; GM's Dieslgate; NRO's octopus; Amazon solidarity; Billionaire-proofing the internet. Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"publish_to_discourse":"1","publish_post_category":"5","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"4691","discourse_permalink":"https:\/\/chinwag.pluralistic.net\/t\/pluralistic-social-media-without-socializing-19-jan-2026\/1886","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[98,8761,8478,5202,211,5697,2797,4475,1530,8479,8200],"class_list":["post-12284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ai","tag-billionaire-solipsism","tag-billionaireism","tag-chatbots","tag-facebook","tag-llms","tag-mark-zuckerberg","tag-meta","tag-social-media","tag-solipsism","tag-zuck"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10867,"url":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2025\/05\/07\/rah-rah-rasputin\/","url_meta":{"origin":12284,"position":0},"title":"Pluralistic: Mark Zuckerberg announces mind-control ray (again) (07 May 2025)","author":"Cory Doctorow","date":"May 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today's links Mark Zuckerberg announces mind-control ray (again): The business model for AI is the same as the business model for Big Data - bilking credulous advertisers. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: 2005, 2010, 2105, 2020, 2024 Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"ad-tech\"","block_context":{"text":"ad-tech","link":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/tag\/ad-tech\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Wayback Machine banner.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/wayback-machine-hed-796x416.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/wayback-machine-hed-796x416.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/wayback-machine-hed-796x416.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/wayback-machine-hed-796x416.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10747,"url":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2025\/04\/18\/chatty-zucky\/","url_meta":{"origin":12284,"position":1},"title":"Pluralistic: Mark Zuckerberg personally lost the Facebook antitrust case (18 Apr 2025)","author":"Cory Doctorow","date":"April 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today's links Mark Zuckerberg personally lost the Facebook antitrust case: A folder on his desktop called \"mens rea.\" Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2024 Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"antitrust\"","block_context":{"text":"antitrust","link":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/tag\/antitrust\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Wayback Machine banner.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/wayback-machine-hed-796x416.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/wayback-machine-hed-796x416.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/wayback-machine-hed-796x416.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/craphound.com\/images\/wayback-machine-hed-796x416.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6221,"url":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2022\/10\/16\/unspeakable\/","url_meta":{"origin":12284,"position":2},"title":"Unspeakable","author":"Cory Doctorow","date":"October 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Big-Tech-as-cop vs. abolishing Big\u00a0Tech Cryteria, CC BY 3.0 (modified)\/Japanexperterna.se, CC BY 2.0, modified; EnEdC, CC BY-SA 3.0,\u00a0modified Since late 2000, EU\u2019s Digital Markets Act (DMA) has made steady progress, and now, despite US Big Tech companies\u2019 illegal lobbying, it has become a law. The DMA\u2019s goal is a fairer, more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Medium&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Medium","link":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/category\/medium\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12801,"url":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/05\/13\/vibe-governance\/","url_meta":{"origin":12284,"position":3},"title":"Pluralistic: Billionaire solipsism, dictator solipsism, AI, and the fascist paradigm (13 May 2026)","author":"Cory Doctorow","date":"May 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Today's links Billionaire solipsism, dictator solipsism, AI, and the fascist paradigm: AGI works best in a K-hole. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Woz's remotes; Furbeowulf; Vinge on AR; Oligarch buys FSU; DNC x GOP megadonors; John Key v Panama Papers; Two elevators, one shaft; Save Firefox!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"agi\"","block_context":{"text":"agi","link":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/tag\/agi\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":311,"url":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2022\/12\/18\/metaverse-means-pivot-to-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":12284,"position":4},"title":"\u201cMetaverse\u201d means \u201cpivot to video\u201d","author":"Cory Doctorow","date":"December 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Fool me twice, we don\u2019t get fooled\u00a0again. \u201cOh come, now, you don\u2019t mean to let on that you like it?\u201d The brush continued to move. \u201cLike it? Well, I don\u2019t see why I oughtn\u2019t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?\u201d That\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Medium&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Medium","link":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/category\/medium\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12847,"url":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2026\/05\/27\/unnecessariat\/","url_meta":{"origin":12284,"position":5},"title":"Pluralistic: AI and a world without migrants (27 May 2026)","author":"Cory Doctorow","date":"May 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Today's links AI and a world without migrants: It's solipsism all the way down. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Manuscript rabbits; \"What Will Come After\"; Pastejacking; Terrorism phrenology; Vaccine waivers were promised 20 years ago. Upcoming appearances: London, Kansas City, LA, Menlo Park, Toronto, NYC, Edinburgh.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"ai\"","block_context":{"text":"ai","link":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/tag\/ai\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12284"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12291,"href":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12284\/revisions\/12291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}