End of social media?

This is instructive:

The End of Social Media and the Rise of Recommendation Media – Every

Social media is content (text, photos, videos, audio, etc) that is distributed primarily through networks of connected people. This means that some level of distribution is guaranteed for creators based on the creator’s social network of friends or followers. This dynamic puts an enormous amount of power in the hands of creators because it means they have built in audiences to which they can broadcast content. In social media, creators have the programming power. As a result, social media is effectively a competition based on popularity, not on quality of content. It favors the creators with the biggest followings; the bigger the following, the bigger the potential for distribution and influence.

There is distinctive shift of mainstream “social media” towards an entertainment platform, in response to the likes of TikTok. I remember the futile idea floated by an esteemed member of the medical fraternity to have a presence there. They forgot that visibility is clearly based on algorithms, and the end user has no say. It is impossible to predict the “virality of the content”.

Here’s further explainer:

In recommendation media, content is not distributed to networks of connected people as the primary means of distribution. Instead, the main mechanism for the distribution of content is through opaque, platform-defined algorithms that favor maximum attention and engagement from consumers. The exact type of attention these recommendations seek is always defined by the platform and often tailored specifically to the user who is consuming content. For example, if the platform determines that someone loves movies, that person will likely see a lot of movie related content because that’s what captures that person’s attention best. This means platforms can also decide what consumers won’t see, such as problematic or polarizing content.

I fail to understand the rush towards social media. It defies any logical explanation around “earning” from a system where the dice is loaded against you in the first place.