65 Things I Want from the Web (But Almost Never Get)

I don't ask for much, I only want trust—but you know it don't come easy

How bad can the Internet get before it gets better? Or will it get better?

Sooner or later, Silicon Valley has to clean up the mess they’ve made. Or if they don’t, politicians and regulators will step in. But they should fix it now, if only out of self interest.

All web platforms need to learn from the recent debacle at Threads, the much touted social media network that lost more than 85% of its user base in a few days.

As I predicted here in painful detail, just a week after launch, Threads thwarted and manipulated users so extremely, few would stick around. And that’s exactly what happened.

The number of active users on Threads has already dropped from 50 million to under 10 million. The exodus took place over the course of just 40 days.

That’s not a decline—it’s Wiley Coyote at the cliff.

Even worse, the amount of time users spend on the app has declined 85%. Average daily use is less than three minutes per day.

Remember that these are active users—but they spend more time flossing. And probably enjoy that thread more than Mr. Z’s.

In other words, we’ve now reached the point that Silicon Valley must change course—if only out of sheer greed. Their apps won’t make money unless they give users a little more control.

They just gotta loosin’ up.

With that in mind, I’m sharing my wish list. Below are 65 things I want from a billionaire’s web platform, but so rarely get.

They ought to take a break from preparing for their cage match, and listen—otherwise they’re stepping off that same precipice.

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65 Things I Want from the Web (But Almost Never Get)

1. Don’t ask me over and over to download your app—especially after I’ve already said no a hundred times.

2. Don’t hide a passage in your terms and conditions stating that you control all rights to what I post on your platform.

3. Don’t make it difficult for me to figure out what’s an advertisement, and what isn’t.

4. Don’t force me to log in to change the settings for my user experience.

5. Don’t keep asking me to review your business on Yelp.

6. Please, please don’t make me assess a half-dozen different types of online tracking when all I want is basic privacy.

   

7. Don’t force me to log in and create an account just to read some text.

8. Don’t make it impossible to delete my account (I’m talking to you Threads).

9. Don’t send me an email that forces me to log in to read the rest of a short message (I’m talking to you Nextdoor).

   

10. And it’s even worse if you send me an email notification of a message that provides none of the message (I’m talking to you Facebook).

11. Don’t blackmail me—taking away functionality unless I do your bidding (I’m talking to you Threads).

    

12. Don’t keep asking my permission to track my location.

13. Don’t make my online experience slower just so you can punish your enemies and competitors.

    

14. Don’t let total strangers put events on my calendar (are you listening Facebook?).

15. Don’t enlist hundreds of power-hungry bullies as your site moderators (Are you listening Reddit? Are you listening Wikipedia?).