We all hate how shitty the big sites have gotten in the name of maximizing profit, but I think it's more insidious than that. It would be one thing if running (say) a news site with decency and integrity was merely less profitable; there would still be people doing it. But I fear that it's actually become impossible to sustain a business like that. The ones that try either die or sell out to survive. (Or are so limited in scope that one person's unpaid part-time labor can sustain them.)
We all hate how shitty the big sites have gotten in the name of maximizing profit, but I think it's more insidious than that. It would be one thing if running (say) a news site with decency and integrity was merely less profitable; there would still be people doing it. But I fear that it's actually become impossible to sustain a business like that. The ones that try either die or sell out to survive. (Or are so limited in scope that one person's unpaid part-time labor can sustain them.)