Source: Simon Owens's Media Newsletter
Media companies adopting algorithmic, infinite-scroll feeds modeled on TikTok are discovering that algorithmic distribution replicates Facebook's core problem: publishers must still pay to reach audiences they built, only through a different mechanism. The shift exposes a structural fact about platform economics—whether the feed is chronological or algorithmic, platforms own the relationship with users, leaving publishers as content suppliers rather than audience owners. Publishers chase platform-specific formats not because they work better for readers, but because they have no alternative distribution channel, regardless of how it's packaged.