Open Gardens

Originally published in The Defiant (9/27).

The Internet is filled with Walled Gardens — closed ecosystems controlled by centralized operators who extract as much value as possible. History has shown us that as platforms grow, Walled Gardens become increasingly parasitic to their own users and 3rd parties. Chris Dixon captures this relationship perfectly in his 2018 essay, Why Decentralization Matters:

“As platforms move up the adoption S-curve, their power over users and 3rd parties steadily grows. When they hit the top of the S-curve, their relationships with network…