Modern social feeds are built to maximize a single metric: engagement. This is not a novel insight. However, as algorithms have gotten better, the problem has become more acute. At the same time, new technologies have made fake users, content and interactions indistinguishable from real ones.

The old solution was “just stop using social media.” But as our lives have moved online more and more, the lines around what is and isn't social media have blurred. Avoidance is both more difficult and more restrictive to our own growth and goals. New technologies that create new problems require better technology, not avoidance. The solution to fatal car crashes is seatbelts, not ditching cars for horses.

So why now? Multiple things are converging to change the way we engage with content online. New open protocols eliminate walled gardens and bake transparency into algorithms and platforms. Authentication technologies make fake content explicit. LLMs give users more fine grained control of their information stream. Together these can make our digital experiences radically healthier.