Rather than employing or paying professional creators (the Times employs 1,600 journalists in 150 countries), platforms equip users with the tools to be content creators themselves. Across content forms, user-generated platforms are typically more scalable and capital efficient.

TikTok launches seemingly a new video effect or filter every week. I regularly log in and see creators using some filter I've never heard of, and some of them are just flat out bonkers. What creators can accomplish with some of these filters I can't even fathom how I'd replicate in something like the Adobe Creative Suite.

This allowed platforms to build a powerful flywheel. Creative content attracted users, and more users in the audience attracted more creators. Funny enough, these platforms never had to pay a cent for any of that content to creators. In this economic reality, people and companies shared their creative work happily and for free: all in the name of r... See more