Market for lemons
October 1, 2025
Frank Chimero's latest essay applies a 1970s concept about information asymmetry to explain why so much of the internet feels broken. Unlike the idea of enshittification, evil isn’t needed to explain what’s going on: platforms do what's profitable, sellers do what works, buyers try to make smart decisions, and yet everything degrades into something nobody wants. The recruiting section particularly resonated with me.