Jeffery Zeldman argues that in being unable to pay mortgage associated with the web, we have become indebted to the mob that is platform capitalism. This has led us into the money trap, which demands unrealistic rewards that care more about clicks than community. Zeldman’s suggestion on how to fix this is a return to individuals owning their activity, something perpetuated by movements such as Domain of One’s Own and IndieWeb. Chris Aldrich explains how he has used WordPress in his effort to fix the web. While Ben Werdmuller unpacks the financial challenges associated with startups. Brent Simmons encourages people to step forward and fix things together.
Marginalia

the reason small companies created by idealists too frequently turn into consumer-defrauding forces for evil has to do with the amount of profit each new phase of investor expects to receive, and how quickly they expect to receive it, and the fact that the products and services are still free. And you know what they say about free products.

The whole system is broken and dangerous, but it’s also addictive, and we can’t look away. From our naive belief that content wants to be free, and our inability to create businesses that pay for themselves, we are turning our era’s greatest inventions into engines of doom and despair.