"The whole story is basically that Facebook gets so much traffic that they started convincing publishers to post things on Facebook."

"For a long time, that was fine. People posted things on Facebook, then you would click those links and go to their websites. But then, gradually, Facebook started exerting more and more control of what was being seen, to the point that they, not our website, essentially became the main publishers of everyone’s content. Today, there’s no reason to go to a comedy website that has a video if that video is just right on Facebook. And that would be fine if Facebook compensated those companies for the ad revenue that was generated from those videos, but because Facebook does not pay publishers, there quickly became no money in making high-quality content for the internet.... Facebook has created a centrally designed internet. It’s a lamer, shittier looking internet. It’s just not as cool as an internet that is a big, chaotic space filled with tons of independently operating websites who are able to make a living because they make something cool that people want to see.... "

Writes Sarah Aswell in "How Facebook Is Killing Comedy" at Splitsider.

What happens when (if) no one but Facebook makes money from writing, video, and photography? Perhaps there is some beauty in the leveling, with all of us simply expressing ourselves in pure amateurism. But Facebook is still making money and making decisions about how things will be served up to readers — what will be highlighted and what will be pushed down into oblivion.

I'm resisting the vortex of Facebook, but I know a few former bloggers who've moved their work onto Facebook. Some of that has to do with the fact that they never tried to monetize their blog at all (or tried and failed). But I think these are people who would prefer an independent blog — making no money — if only they had good traffic. So people migrate to Facebook, which gives the impression that there are a lot of people present, and they accept that all the money to be made goes to Facebook.

I, one of the holdouts, have good traffic on this blog and I have it monetized to some degree — not enough to live comfortably if it were my only income, but enough to make me feel that it's money that should come to me and not get redirected to Facebook. But I'm happy with the amateurism of writing as long as it is read, and it feels all-important to me that I'm writing in this separate place — my place — and I decide what goes on top.