AI is absolutely ruining social platforms. But not just because of the content. The obvious stuff is true:

AI-generated content slop is everywhere. Bland. Interchangeable. Uncanny valley vibe-coded.

Everyone sees that part, the more insidious problem is less obvious

The algorithms themselves now use AI to model You. Not just what you click, but who you are supposed to be

Platforms now use AI to build personas, and then put creators and consumers into those persona siloes, so that you see content from people like you, and people like you see the content that is from you

And there is one very huge problem with that:

We already know 90% of what the people like us know. We don’t need another slightly different version an opinion we already have. Especially when it is phrased in the same cadence and includes the word 'Quietly' at least 16 times

The interesting ideas that change how we think rarely come from people who are a lot like you

They come from people who make you uncomfortable because they aren't like you at all

They don’t share your assumptions. They are working in different contexts. They have different incentives

Culture moves forward through collision

Older versions of the internet were chaotic but they let you stumble into things accidentally. You’d overhear conversations not meant for you and be exposed to ideas you didn’t ask for

Discovery has been replaced by affirmation. It's intellectually lethal, total Content Stagflation. More stuff and going nowhere. And it is annihilating the one thing culture needs to stay alive:

Exposure to people who are not like you thinking thoughts you haven’t had yet