_posts/2016-01-26-follow-the-links.markdown
---
title: "‘Follow the Links’"
date: 2016-01-26 09:06:00 -06:00
layout: post
custom_type: link
link_url: http://aworkinglibrary.com/writing/follow-the-links/
---
Mandy Brown on what happens when an app tries to keep you within that app:
> Because what Twitter (or Facebook, or Apple, or whomever) is also doing when they bring the web to users’ feeds, rather than letting those feeds serve as maps to elsewhere, is diminish the hyperlink. You remember the hyperlink, right? It’s supposed to take you somewhere, to move you from one place to another.
Mandy writes about the tectonic-like shift that the increase in characters on Twitter could turn out to be. Its fascinating. I'd not put the pieces together yet. It could be yet another step in diminishing the very nature of the web.
Obviously, this makes sense monetarily for Twitter. Keeping people on the platform gives them more opportunities for ads. Interestingly, there could actually be some benefits for the user here too. But her ending is dead on:
> At some point, a feed that you never leave is going to feel like a prison.