I’ve actually been mulling similar thoughts when thinking about the next few years of the internet. With rampant ai generated bullshit and constant disinformation campaigns, current day social media is dead. The whole internet is dead and will likely split into geopolitical sphere centric regional internet with controlled interaction amongst each other, similar to the Chinese experience.

We can see it beginning to happen with the united states consolidating their sphere by pushing tiktok out, and the crumbling trust the people have in online information. From a European perspective, and the recent unwillingness to comply with EU misinformation laws by google for example, I expect the eventual formation of alternative services that do comply, and with the increasing wariness towards russian and chinese political interference through disinformation I also expect that some sort of real life verification will become required to prevent bots and foreign actors most effectively.