I have been away on a family thing in the town I lived in until I was five. We were walking around earlier, and my parents were commenting how the smaller shops are largely closed down, and everyone would rather go to the malls and stuff. (Or order online.)
I found myself drawing parallels to social networks and the state of the internet.
We have this issue where the Big Congregation Places keep squandering over the Small Particular (and Personal) Places.
They both have their uses, even if some maybe don't like one or the other. But when you *only* have the choice of the Big Place or the Smaller Places, the Big Place is more harmful alone than lots of Smaller Places.
To be fair this comparison falls apart a bit when the internet is about personal privacy and safety, while the shop stuff is more about ... I dunno, consumerism?
Though you could make a comparison again both are about status. Going to the mall's fancy store is about status. Posting about something on Twitter is about status. The locally owned smaller shop or your personal Livejournal... less so.
