Open Source has been a resounding success. It has become so ubiquitous that we don't note it anymore. Its the normal. Moreover, its general cultural practices, openness, collaboration etc have also become norms. Back 20 years ago, this was unimaginable. A great change has happened.
On top of that, user-generated content has become the king. Its not 6-figure columnists working for corporate outlets who are setting the trend on the net like early 2000s anymore. We, the people, who were once in small forums on the fringes of the internet, have become the motor of the internet.
Crowdfunding, citizen-initiatives etc have grown. Independent content creators, software developers, even journalists are funding their activities by the support of their audience, using crowdfunding or membership tools. Democratization of these sectors bear great changes.
All of these combine into a world in which a lot of things are being democratized, and given into the hands of the people. Reducing the power of the corporations.
This was unimaginable in 1990s. We would sit pretty, shut up, watch and listen to what we were told and consume. All that we could do would be to send back some feedback to our corporate overlords about some product if they ever stooped so low as to ask our opinion.
Compared to those times, things are MUCH better now. Which is the reason for the discomfort in a lot of the old establishment and the noise they make about various things. From attacking net neutrality to wanting 'content to be auto moderated'.
Agree on crowdfunding, but a side-effect of that has been fragmentation of culture. That means that pop culture has had to increasingly pander to the lowest common denominator and get a lot worse: see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31024896
On user-generated content, I also think things have been getting a lot worse since the 2000s. What you refer to as the small forums on the fringes of the internet used to be its motor. Now you have big corporate platforms, that act more like a hive-mind, with no real online communities and no individual voices heard. There has been more centralisation, not democratization in this regard. Add to that the commercialization of it all - now you never know if something you read is an astroturfing campaign, a sponsored 'influencer', someone out to build a following and make money, or true authentic hobbyist content. Back then it was almost all the latter.
Back in the 90s we were not glued to smartphones with personalized ads and influencers selling us crap. Yes, we had ads on TV, but that is not nearly as bad, and there is only so much of TV you can watch. There was more connection and more humanity, and 'corporations' had far, far less power than today.
In any case - you're just describing what has happened. What is the vision or the bright future that we go to from here?
> but a side-effect of that has been fragmentation of culture.
Is it a bad thing though?
In old times, the culture was harmonized, but this was through whatever those who controlled the centralized means of distribution wanted people to hear and see.
> That means that pop culture has had to increasingly pander to the lowest common denominator and get a lot worse
Totally disagree. First, the pop culture was always like that. In every age you find intellectuals and sensitive people complaining about how bad the mainstream culture has become. For example I don't see today's pop culture any worse than the 1980s, in which being selfish, material, hedonistic was being pushed and praised by entire media & music and that was something 'okay'.
But today we also have many subcultures. The people who couldnt get together, leave aside do anything together in the past, are now able to find each other and create collectives and live their lives how they want to. Not only in terms of culture and consumption of content actually - there are people who create different lifestyles.
> On user-generated content, I also think things have been getting a lot worse since the 2000s. What you refer to as the small forums on the fringes of the internet used to be its motor.
I think such belief is fueled more by nostalgia and also the lack of awareness of the people about the communities outside the few ones in which they participated back in 2000s.
Because even then, going to the 'wrong' forum would put you into an environmen totally different, even hostile, with 'quality' content being nonexistent.
The rest was the same - corporations have been doing the same things in the past too. Except, today you can eventually know which influencer is totally sold out and you can choose who to follow. And this is without talking about directly fan-funded creators like the ones who use Patreon - making $100k/month or more with the subscriptions of their fans and without needing to kowtow to anyone on the planet but their own fans.
> There was more connection and more humanity, and 'corporations' had far, far less power than today.
Only in your personal life, close social circle and family. Otherwise, corporate world and its standards were the defaults for entire society - from workplace to the economy, news and everything else.
> What is the vision or the bright future that we go to from here?
Big complicated topic. It depends on the reaction of the establishment and the existing order to the changes I described in my earlier post. I'd rather not enter such a large topic here.
On top of that, user-generated content has become the king. Its not 6-figure columnists working for corporate outlets who are setting the trend on the net like early 2000s anymore. We, the people, who were once in small forums on the fringes of the internet, have become the motor of the internet.
Crowdfunding, citizen-initiatives etc have grown. Independent content creators, software developers, even journalists are funding their activities by the support of their audience, using crowdfunding or membership tools. Democratization of these sectors bear great changes.
All of these combine into a world in which a lot of things are being democratized, and given into the hands of the people. Reducing the power of the corporations.
This was unimaginable in 1990s. We would sit pretty, shut up, watch and listen to what we were told and consume. All that we could do would be to send back some feedback to our corporate overlords about some product if they ever stooped so low as to ask our opinion.
Compared to those times, things are MUCH better now. Which is the reason for the discomfort in a lot of the old establishment and the noise they make about various things. From attacking net neutrality to wanting 'content to be auto moderated'.