The potential problems of big tech have come to the attention of the public, but this has mostly been because the public has become concerned that their personal information is being collected and exploited. Without the politics of the 2016 Russian election meddling scandal would anyone know or care?
There are other issues that everyone should concern us all and these have to do with the virtual (I admit this is a word with multiple meanings) monopolies of a few tech companies and the implications of what the money and power of these monopolies represent. The argument that these companies are just examples of successful capitalism based on innovation and the government should not interfere with success need to be examined. The case for regulation applies when monopolies retard innovation and exercise power outside of what would be the normal range of service a company provides.
Technologists making the monopoly argument explain how what the end user presently experiences lacks the innovation that unknown already offer. Big companies accomplish this end by buying up small innovators who lack the capital for their services to gain recognition and by purposefully or practically limiting the opportunity of users to take their attention elsewhere. This latter problem is frequently called the network effect implying that the influence of a service is not so much due to the quality of that service but from the user base the service has developed. Translated – it is just too difficult to get your friends and those you may want to influence to move to a better service with you.
Facebook may make the best example. Facebook is not just Facebook, but now includes other services such as Instagram. Offering these related services affords an advantage. There are multiple options to both service. For example, I use Pixelfed as an option to Instagram and I would challenge Instragram users to identify a disadvantage of Pixelfed beyond the reality that their friends expect them to post to Instagram. I would suggest that the advantage of Pixelfed is the federated approach taken by this service preventing power from being accumulated by a single provider. I assume this difference would appeal to many concerned about centralization. How many users know that this alternative exists or what federation means?
