The "third place" was where real connection happened.

Not work. Not home. Somewhere in between.

It facilitated community, unique perspectives, and creative interactions.

This place has changed across generations, from the campfire to ancient Greek agoras to Churches, Cafes, and Parks.

But the fundamentals remained, a place to congregate, separate from work or home.

But these places are changing, and not for the better.

For many, their third space is now a black rectangular screen that occupies the space of their hand.

Consumers around the world averaged 6 hours and 37 minutes of screen time per day in 2023.

Compare this to the fact that on average, people spend 4 hours per week with their friends – there’s an imbalance.

In a world where there’s hyper-connectivity, the world seems more socially disconnected than ever before.

And the state of the internet, only makes this worse. And it can be traced back to the very start.

Google Search was based on principles set out in 1998 by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, one of which was “Advertising funded search engines will be inherently biased towards the advertisers and away from the needs of consumers.”

The platforms are built to maximise shareholder value, and this means plastering advertising in between every search result and mindless scroll.

Everything is designed to lock users into an addictive cycle.

The platforms have all shifted to scrolling and reeling interfaces to optimise the dopamine doom loop.

Anything that might persuade you to leave the platform - a news story, or any outside link, is brutally punished by the algorithms.

Anything can be gamified. Everything is scrollable.

Instead of movies, users get served up an endless sequence of 15-second videos. Instead of symphonies, listeners hear bite-sized melodies, usually accompanied by one of these tiny videos, just enough for a dopamine hit, and no more.

In the year 2024, this is what people do for fun.

We’re seeing change right now at a rapid pace, the future of the internet is being unveiled in front of our very eyes.

But as we move forward, we must remember what's truly important.

It's not about the algorithms, the metrics, or the data.

It's about the people.

The true value of the internet lies in connecting people and creating meaningful experiences that enhance our lives.

The sooner we shift to building experiences that enrich our lives rather than consume them, the sooner we can genuinely say the internet is a place for good.

It's up to us to make it that way.