Open thread : An Iranian blogger thinks the rise of social media is killing the potential of the web . Is he right?

Has the web lost its power to drive social change? This is the conclusion of Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan, imprisoned by the regime in 2008 and released and pardoned in 2014.



During his time in prison, the rise of smartphones and apps had changed the online world. Blogging and independent websites had been overtaken by social media networks, with the likes* of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram dominating the market.

Writing in a piece for the Guardian’s G2, Derakhshan mourned the loss of the web as he knew it, particularly the lessened power of the hyperlink, something he believes had a democratising effect on the access and sharing of information.

Nearly every social network now treats a link as just the same as it treats any other object – the same as a photo, or a piece of text. You’re encouraged to post one single hyperlink and expose it to a quasi-democratic process of liking and plussing and hearting. But links are not objects, they are relations between objects. This objectivisation has stripped hyperlinks of their immense powers.

Derakhshan’s article sparked a lively debate below the line. Here are some highlights from the debate - you can add your own views in the comments section below.

*pun intended.



Facebook: the Walmart of the internet?



Hacking your way through a jungle of nonsense



Drowned by banalities?



The app era has its advantages



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Have apps democratised information? Photograph: Alamy

Social media has given a platform to the voiceless



It’s harder to get the crowd’s attention

