As one of the early founders of social media, I can tell you firsthand: Social media was never meant to be what reigns today. The medium is far astray from its visionary beginnings. Its North Star was uniting people and providing them with technologies to stay better connected, communicate freely, find like-minded communities, learn, and share their lives. But the experience of social networking careened wildly off course. Big Tech giants started viewing their users no longer as customers but rather as data-generators to sell, target, and manipulate.
To wrap our minds around this industry’s trajectory, it’s helpful to observe the patterns of other business sectors: farming and energy. All three sectors are essential in modern society and are today dominated by a handful of monopolistic corporations. They have unprecedented power over our lives. Big Ag controls what foods we eat, Big Energy what energy we use, and Big Tech what information we consume. Over time, the idealistic foundations of each of these sectors were overtaken by natural human greed.
Yet promising grassroots movements have emerged and are rapidly gaining traction. Regenerative and organic farming have emerged to challenge Big Ag. The renewable energy movement is taking on Big Energy. These challengers provide a glimpse of what’s possible in a parallel movement that competes with Big Tech.
The myth of inevitable dominance
Big Ag, Big Energy, and Big Tech have benefited from the common misperception that their dominance is guaranteed—that no upstart alternatives can present viable challenges.
This notion is absurd. Not long ago, regenerative farming was viewed as a niche trend practiced by a handful of small farmers. Today, more than 100 million acres of land worldwide are dedicated to regenerative agriculture. This is expected to increase to 1 billion acres by 2050.
Renewable energy generation was also a small subset a few decades ago. Fast-forward to today and a 2024 report by the International Energy Agency found that solar, wind, and other renewables are expected to surpass coal (the longtime leader) in global electricity production by 2025.
Today, there is a misperception that web and social media companies must rely on the Big Tech business practices of data harvesting and algorithmic manipulation, also known as surveillance capitalism, to be successful. This is a myth promoted by the Big Tech companies themselves to justify their own business model.
Web platforms can succeed and earn healthy profits while rejecting these harmful practices. DuckDuckGo, the privacy-protecting search engine competing with Google, reported over 100 million users and $100 million in revenue in 2023. Brave, a privacy-protecting browser with over 70 million users, had revenue of $260 million in 2023.
Change comes from the outside
The power and wealth of the corporate monopolies are vast and entrenched, and they’ve worked hard to keep their status quo secured. Big Ag companies like Tyson Foods or Cargill weren’t going to transform and reject industrial farming or take the lead toward regenerative farming. Neither were Big Energy companies like ExxonMobil or Duke Energy likely to reject fossil fuels and champion distributed solar.
Regenerative farming was started by independent farmers. Then consumers embraced it. Over time, the movement achieved critical mass. Only then did major corporations like Tyson and General Mills take notice and start making changes as late adopters—not for the philosophy, but for newfound profit opportunities.
Similarly, the renewable energy movement was spearheaded by independent upstarts like Poet, First Solar, and SolarCity (later acquired by Tesla). Only later did Big Energy corporations take notice and start adding renewables to their energy portfolios. Interestingly, by doing so, Big Energy actually fanned the flames of these movements, giving the upstarts greater credibility and more business.
In the same vein, a movement that rejects surveillance capitalism and advances ethical alternatives won’t be led by Big Tech giants like Meta or Google. The web’s transformation requires new people, new platforms, and new paradigms to support pure, user-centric models that respect and empower users.
Don’t give up
Embrace ethical alternatives. If you oppose the harmful practices of Big Ag factory farms, that doesn’t mean you have to give up meat (if you’re a meat eater). Regenerative farms with humane animal treatment, as well as plant-based and lab-grown meat startups, are providing healthy, ethical alternatives.
If you’re concerned about the environment-damaging practices of Big Energy conglomerates, solar, wind, and other clean-tech companies provide abundant energy and reliable services without harming the planet.
Early adopters change the world. When Elon Musk took over Tesla (yes, he didn’t start it), electric cars were still viewed as a niche segment that’s unlikely to become mainstream. Yet enthusiastic early adopters, along with Musk’s unflagging perseverance as an industry outsider, led Tesla to become the most valuable auto company on Earth. As an aside, Musk’s takeover of Twitter/X is a completely different scenario.
Conversely, Twitter/X was already a mainstream Big Tech giant when Musk took over, not a startup. The company’s fundamental surveillance capitalism business model remains intact.
Most of today’s successful companies that embrace ethical business practices, including B Corps and conscious capitalist organizations, came from similarly humble beginnings. Examples include Patagonia, Warby Parker, Trader Joe’s, and many others. These companies developed loyal customer bases that helped propel them into the massive, global, and highly profitable brands they are today.
If you’re fed up with Big Tech, you don’t have to unplug from the web. Instead, if you’re so motivated, take the plunge and start a restoration network. Through antitrust actions, the government is opening the free market gates. Alternatively, become an early adopter of next-generation trustworthy, respectful, and exciting alternatives.
The driving force behind every movement combating the amoral giants of an industry—whether it’s Big Ag, Big Energy, or Big Tech—is the commitment to a healthier, safer, and empowering future for us, our kids, and future generations. Big Ag, Big Energy, and Big Tech are hulking Goliaths. Undeterred, impressive Davids have emerged in farming and energy. It’s time for comparable slingshots taking on Big Tech.
Excerpted with permission from the publisher, Wiley, from Restoring Our Sanity Online: A Revolutionary Social Framework by Mark Weinstein. Copyright © 2025 by Mark Weinstein. All rights reserved.
