If all you're after is group communication, you're on an alternative now, and there are FOSS equivalents

Pro privacy social networks also exist

yes, it does depend on type of service and scope. my worry is that these big companies have enough money to just absorb the small ones, and they're multinational so antitrust laws don't work as well as they should. I may be scared at nothing, but it just looks that way to me, that google facebook and amazon will soon have insurmountable majorities on the three big internet uses: interaction, information transfer, and commerce

That really doesn't make sense if you look at the way the internet is setup. It's not a railroad

Like the cost to set up a p2p or small chat service is whatever the data and electricity costs are at this point

yes but where does that get traction to engage in true competition with the services of the giants?

What is the basis you are competing on? What is the goal?

(maybe my idea of the internet is unreasonable) the goal is to have the internet be a system similar to an infinitely large public square. you set up shop and anyone can get to you if they want to engage with your goods or services. I know that's technically how it is, but every interaction with the internet is privatized, such that the method by which you seek out and find these "streetcarts" is itself a private service that could decide to intentionally hide what you're looking for

That's why there are multiple competing methods to find these streetcarts. You deciding to not use alternatives doesn't make them nonviable

DDG serves a purpose

it's not their viability that's the problem necessarily

it's the cultural crowding out. to continue with the metaphor, these other mapmakers are all there (to focus on google specifically), but in our society we tend towards the biggest one, who can then take advantage of that and just quietly leave out his competitors' stalls on his maps. It's not a perfect analogy, but we literally use the term "google" as a verb at this point, and many browsers open up right to it.

Okay, so your goal is what, to make google an official institution instead of moving to alternatives?

Like the option exists now to cut google out pretty much entirely

my goal is this: either increase the competitive nature of the market, or if we're going to continue to treat google as "the face of the internet," we need to actually treat it like a liable institution instead of as a privatized one. I'm willing to go either way, but where it's at right now it enjoys the benefits of being the biggest name that everyone knows (and people tend to be lazy and not care that there are alternatives) while still being a private company that doesn't have to be held as accountable for what it's doing as a public institution would

How do you increase the competitive nature or a market already primarily driven by users choosing to utilize a particular service?

https://duckduckgo.com/traffic

I admit I don't know this one, and I'll have to get back to you on that, it just worries me

That's fine. I would say - look for alternative platforms. Wean yourself off the major ones if necessary, and see if you can drag a few friends over

that's the best solution. it's only problematic in that I'm literally fighting the market forces here

Riot.IM might be a good one to check out if you, like me, expect Discord to implode in a few years. Rocket.chat as well
I personally think social medial platforms just shithouse in general but there's options for that too

No, you're using market forces. Sell people on the idea of using a less invasive alternative

People are leaving FB for a reason

that's true, FB is finally slowing down

but amazon and google... yikes

amazon literally buys out anyone who would be competitors by buying their product and reselling it, which is scummy

I guess it's the capitalist paradox: competition is good for everyone except companies

You can still order from many stores directly, including groceries at this point. You can also just buy locally

Something a lot of lefties have been promoting for years

which is rather ironic

I dunno about that. They've got some rather specific economic ideas that such a plan works well with. It's just that some things you can't buy local, and our economy is driven by people buying shit they really don't need or definitely cannot afford

honestly though debt is a major hindrance to the economy IMO but I get that's how we generate more wealth and it sucks

I don't think it's an especially good or desirable system either, outside of the top down perspective. But that's what happens when you get centralized market tending

not necessarily, but it is a likelihood in any event

@Herkules97 pstb over here

What is pstb

an anomanapia indicating the sound of someone trying to get your attention.

As you can see we have trolls oh-plenty.

oh, you mean the pst

Idk, he's fun to talk to

But that is normal on the net so we try to just ignore them