The continuing illusion of the digital realm right into 2026

No one is above internet law.

Stick around long enough, and you’ll hear about someone who gets the boot from a social media platform.

• Your friend who’s been posting AI-generated videos

• The leader of a large engagement group designed to extract money

• A big name mega-user on Bluesky who flew far too close to the sun in superlisting

It’s been a minute for me, but the most recent one I heard about was actually from Jay Clouse, one of the bigger names on social media who shares a lot of great business advice through interviews with amazing creators. It wasn’t really someone who I had thought would really rock any boats on social media, but her content is quite compelling for those who want to bootstrap into lucrative businesses…

Codie Sanchez was booted from Substack earlier this year.

Why? Because she shared her take on the demise of their business model in the long-term. I don’t blame her, and I think there’s something to be said about how that writing platform is evolving. Since then, the bells and whistles on it have been growing by leaps and bounds, and the gurus are getting in on the action.

You can’t scroll their X-style notes for even a second without a promotion on how to grow on the platform (and yes, it’s officially a social media platform as of this publication).

They didn’t like that. So they kicked her out. She’s doing just fine of course. Her business does not rely on them in the least. But it does remind us all of what’s happening on the internet as well as IRL — that everything is temporary and nobody holds all the cards in society.

Digital baskets and all the eggs rolling around

People will say one platform is better than another; that Medium is better or Substack is better or YouTube is the best thing in the world. Wait, no, LinkedIn is where it’s at right now.

It’s now December of 2025.

When I started around this time in 2022, Twitter was where it was at. These days, the platform has mutated into an extension of Elon Musk’s ego and his personal platform. Seems like all the most powerful tech billionaires have theirs, right? And soon, AI will be unleashed into the marketing and adult entertainment sphere. As of this month, the capabilities have been activated…the tsunami might take a few weeks, but it will be unmistakable when it hits.

I also just read a dark take on what I consider a form of shadowbanning in the AI era. It’s nothing new. Those who invent the product can also create the entire franchise that springs up around the problems that it creates — like the pharmaceutical industry in conjunction with food and healthcare.

Yet another form of eggs and baskets that are already pretty well-established.

Everything is rented…and will be

“We would like to inform you that your subscription for access to your current air quality will expire in two weeks. As supplies have dwindled due to recent government policy changes, we are increasing the current yearly renewal fee to $875. If you no longer wish to continue your subscription, you will be automatically downgraded to the next lowest air quality package.”

One of my coworkers sent me this in jest the other day. Given how things are going, some version of this isn’t far off. Granted a few more technological innovations need to be in place before something like this would be feasible at scale (i.e., 6G or 7G, AGI, quantum computing, fusion power), I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw something like this towards the end of this century (if I live that long).

Back to the present. The internet is being monetized. Netflix is buying Warner Brothers. Everything is going towards a subscription-based service. The only way to minimize it is to become more self-sufficient and "smart devices”. Heck, even toys are now having AI shimmed into them!

Hope springs eternal

No matter what happens in 2026, I’m going to be here finding my way forward.

Digital decoupling requires more than just screaming in to the void. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be retooling a few things and putting something together — a guide of sorts based on my experience. And no, it’s not going to be a “how I write” system. From everything I’ve seen when it comes to the “shovel” industry, it’s become clear that I’ve never really had an interest in that arena.

It’s going to be on how to build awareness of the truth without letting it pull you into cynicism and bitterness. We’ve been playing the game of life with the rules heavily redacted (like another set of documents that just got released). Maybe it’s preaching to the choir, but this is what writing has done for me.

There’s room for the light. For hope. For truth.

But it has to start with us.