You Reaped Nothing
I am a millennial. I loved the 90’s. Perhaps I romanticize about it too much, but I can’t help but relive the carefree world of my childhood. Don’t get me wrong, there were dangers all around. Violence, abuse, neglect, etc were mainstays even in the 90’s, but there was so much more. There was climbing trees, exploring streams, being scared by suspicious looking neighbors, staying out until the street lights turned on, and on and on. Times change, naturally. The world in the 90’s was not the same at the turn of the century or post-WWII and it is even more so not the same today. Our world is now digital and I don’t think we truly know what to make of it.
The truth is that we have sold our dignity for scraps without even knowing it. With every swipe of our smartphone we provide advertisers and corporations with data that social media corporations sell for their own benefit. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, Meta earned a record breaking $200.1 billion [1] off of your scrolling. You provided intimate details — what you love, what you fear, what you buy, who you vote for — and it was sold to the highest bidder. You reaped nothing.
Social media, as we know it, has been rooted in profiteering. When it was in its infancy, we were oblivious as to what it would become and yet we were made empty promises that we would be able to connect with family and friends even though there was never an intent to regulate the medium that would accommodate that desire. Little did we know that we were the product. The question is, do we want to remain so?
Is Agora the savior of social media? No. I have spent endless hours trying to figure out a way out of this madness and I won’t pretend that I had the solution figured out all along. Is Agora perfect? No, but it’s purpose is to create a better world online for those who desire it. It isn’t for people who don’t want anarchy, mistrust the government, or feel corporate America is the root of all evil. It is for those who just want peace, understanding, and honesty.
What do you want?
[1] Meta Statistics 2026, sociallyin.com
