With looming TikTok ban in the US, the death of the global internet

The current debate about TikTok in the US signals the death of the global internet. The history of the global internet is the history of local apps that strove to become big, fulfilling promises of global connectivity. Our current spate of digital applications stands on the graves of a large number of platforms, applications, environments, products, and tools that were once in vogue. I remember the world before Google, where the only way to find credible information online was through a p2p network of carefully maintained links to discussion forums which were not just digital dumpster fires. There was a…