Recently, I helped my family download Tai Chi videos from WeChat Video Account. I found that the Video Account is becoming more and more closed. Originally, it was still possible to download through tools and packet capture methods. Now, it is even harder to open and watch videos in the Video Account without using WeChat because this thing does not provide web support.
Public accounts also seem to be isolated from the entire Internet (mainly referring to the web end) and have become Tencent's assets. What can be searched on Baidu, Bing, and Google is not as good as before. In addition to Baidu's self-degradation, various content farms and even AI are contaminating Internet content. WeChat has created a closed ecosystem using its traffic monopoly advantage, and everyone is imitating it. Without downloading the app, you can't expect to see content from me. Baidu, Sina, Netease, Jifeng.com, etc., which were originally established for openness and sharing, have now become isolated islands.
Closure can bring benefits, but openness brings no gains. This should also be some changes brought about by mobile internet and other small-screen terminals, but it also brings great difficulties for us to obtain information. I hope decentralized applications like IPFS and xLog can bring us some changes in thinking. How to use an open ecosystem to create value for authors or service providers. I believe that closure is by no means the way out for the Internet, but we have not yet found a suitable path to explore the market.
Openness is the eternal theme of the Internet.