Publishers leave the dead malls of Web 2.0

There’s nothing left for you in the dead malls of Web 2.0. The era of mass platform-based social media has ended, and any publication still chasing likes and clicks in 2026 is holding the bag. This means publications need to work harder than ever to define their identities and become destinations that readers remember to return to again and again.

This is a far less dismal prediction than it might initially sound like, because with this new media ecosystem, we might begin to see a broader return to filtering applications like RSS readers. Maybe, thinking even more optimistically, there could be a revival of the “link blog” in the coming months (if we can call new projects that, which will most likely emerge as newsletters). Which is to say, more people — rather than agents or bots or what have you — who can direct you to what’s good online. In any case, this is a great time for someone to launch a cleanly designed user-friendly RSS reader with Google Reader-style social features and sharing. Contemporary online users are already familiar with the benefits of RSS through Apple Podcasts and other directories. It wouldn’t take much to get users to migrate to an app where they can see news, blogs, newsletters, Fediverse and Bluesky accounts, etc. all in one place.

Sure, there’s still TikTok; there can and will be new online hangouts, longevity notwithstanding. But any journalism organization serious about reaching readers will not break their mission and identity to chase fickle wins in new (and increasingly humiliating) races to virality.

Ultimately, publications need to be compelling enough for readers to remember to type their URLs in a web browser. You don’t have to be The New York Times, although legacy certainly helps. Two relatively new publications come to mind, each with a strong point of view and editorial through line: The New York Review of Architecture and 404 Media. If stories from these publications take off on platforms, it is reflective of the work, rather than work catering to what social media audiences might appear to want.