alt Hacker NewsA lot of small businesses use these platforms for outreach. Without them they wouldn't have an avenue to reach and stay in contact with customers. An example would be a potter showing their work on Instagram and then linking back to their Shopify website.
Big tech literally has fingers in every single pie imaginable and it's real money for a lot of people, unfortunately.
Yeah, that's a very good counter-argument. I recently talked to a potter exactly like that, they said Instagram is their primary sales channel. Unlike for me, for them leaving would have significant financial consequences. The majority of users are not in this situation though.