An #autoessay on social media and its future

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Substack isn’t as sophisticated as it likes to think

“Infinite scroll” is a hallmark of engagement-maximization design rather than intellectual or editorial sophistication. It signals a platform optimizing for time-on-site and continuous consumption rather than deliberation or depth.

Substack positions itself as a home for thoughtful, writer-centered publishing, yet the adoption of infinite scroll aligns it with the same behavioral architectures used by TikTok, Instagram, and X. The feature undermines its rhetorical distinction between social media and “independent writing.”

Technically, infinite scroll disables natural stopping cues—the pagination or end-of-article boundary that invites reflection. Psychologically, it replaces reading with grazing. In that sense, Substack’s design betrays its aesthetic narrative: it is not a slow medium but a re-skinned feed economy.

The presence of infinite scroll on Substack is not neutral. It reveals the platform’s underlying incentives—retention over reflection, consumption over comprehension—even as its branding appeals to the opposite.

This got me interested in the recent changes to Instagram’s UI. If you’re not aware, they centered messaging.

Instagram and Mark Zuckerberg

The social-media revolution was technologically and culturally overdetermined—it arose from converging forces: broadband expansion, affordable smartphones, digital photography and a generation accustomed to online self-presentation. MySpace, Friendster and Orkut already demonstrated the basic social-network template before Facebook scaled it.

Mark Zuckerberg’s singular contribution was not invention but execution at institutional scale. He imposed hierarchy, identity verification and algorithmic personalization on what had been anarchic community spaces. Those decisions turned social networking from hobbyist culture into global infrastructure. If Zuckerberg had not done it, another founder would have—likely under Google, Yahoo or an Asian consortium (i. e., ByteDance) but the resulting system might have been less centralized around real-name identity and Western cultural norms. His choices standardized what “social media” became: authenticated, surveilled, engagement-driven, all these monetized through advertising.

While the revolution was inevitable, the particular architecture of its dominance—one platform mediating much of human sociality—was not. That outcome is Zuckerberg’s historical fingerprint.

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The emperor has no identity: Mark Zuckerberg as blank slate and the rise of the insulated tech lord

As an aside on “tech feudalism” and business, Zuckerberg has been exceptionally well managed from both a corporate-governance and public-relations standpoint. From early on, he insulated himself through structural, legal, and strategic mechanisms that make him one of the most protected executives in the world.

He holds a dual-class share structure that gives him majority voting control of Meta regardless of stock ownership—a design modeled after Google’s founders but taken further. That means he cannot be removed by the board or shareholders. His legal exposure is mitigated by Meta’s corporate counsel network, which pre-emptively manages risk through regulatory engagement, lobbying and internal policy design.

Publicly, his communications are tightly curated: scripted testimony before Congress, controlled media interviews and timed posts on his own platforms. When scandals arise—Cambridge Analytica, election interference, privacy leaks—the company absorbs the institutional blame, while Zuckerberg frames his role as reformer implementing new safeguards. In essence, his “management” is structural, not reactive. The system he built—ownership model, legal shielding, PR choreography—ensures accountability can never fully reach him. This is not accidental. It is the logical outcome of a founder-controlled corporation whose core business is information governance.

What Instagram putting messages centrally in the mobile UI means

Instagram’s repositioning of messages to the front signals a major redefinition of what the platform is for.

Historically, Instagram’s identity was anchored in public performance—images curated for a feed. By moving DMs forward, Meta is declaring that private interaction now drives the core of user engagement. This aligns with long-term internal data showing that most sharing now happens through private channels, not the feed.

In short, Instagram is evolving from a broadcast network to a hybrid of discovery and conversation. Reels handle discovery. DMs handle retention. The feed is now secondary.

Where TikTok sits

In contrast, TikTok remains an algorithmic broadcast engine—its monetization and cultural value depend on public virality, not private messaging. Snapchat is still the archetype for ephemeral, one-to-one sociality. Meta’s move with Instagram suggests it wants to fuse these modes: TikTok’s reach with Snapchat’s intimacy.

Expectations and the future of social media

Expect other major platforms to follow different trajectories.

• TikTok will double down on algorithmic discovery and shopping integration.

• X (Twitter) will expand its “super app” functions around payments and news.

• Meta (via Instagram and WhatsApp) will consolidate private messaging, commerce, and AI assistance into a single ecosystem.

This update signals Meta’s strategic pivot toward social utility—keeping users inside its private channels for communication, commerce, and creator interactions—while competitors specialize either in discovery (TikTok), public discourse (X) or productivity (LinkedIn).

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