[roymurdock]

You need roads, bridges, water, electricity, and garbage collection to fulfill basic physiological needs, and also so you can swap menial tasks for higher level work/spending time with family/enjoying a better standard of living.

Framing in Maslow's pyramid [1]: Many of the goods/services the gov provides fulfill either level 1 physiological needs or level 2 security needs.

Social networks fulfill level 3 and 4 needs: love/belonging, and esteem.

We aren't yet at the point where we as a society decide we need to dedicate collective resources (taxes) to level 3 and 4 needs, especially while our level 2 and 1 services/goods aren't improving at the rate with which they did in the 20th century, and are in some cases deteriorating/being privatized.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow#/media/File:Mas...

[ninjakeyboard]

I like this answer. It presents a framework for reasoning about why it turned out the way it has, and why it likely won't change.

I think also the motivation for (advertising) profit is what is driving the innovation on the other side.

[dredmorbius]

People will choose communications over very nearly all other services. Author and historian Shelby Foote makes note of this in his anthology Jefferson County, observing homes wired for telephone service before they had electricity, circa 1910.

[ARothfusz]

I disagree. A large part of public schooling relates to love/belonging and esteem. Go $mascots! Science fairs, glee club, language clubs. Learning to organize support for causes. Learning to drive (there's a big social network!). And, indirectly, the zillion school newspapers and (I imagine), school websites.

We've been doing those things for a few generations now, but they haven't led to public newspapers. I don't know why we would expect them to lead to public electronic social networks.

[golemotron]

A slightly different framing:

https://www.livehouseautomation.com.au/blogs/news/75760388-w...

[douglaswlance]

Social networks fulfill all needs.

That is why the ultimate form of punishment in our society is to isolate the individual from all human contact.

Humans do terribly in an environment without other people.

Why does it matter that the medium is digital?

[zild3d]

> Social networks fulfill all needs.

not physiological needs... food, shelter, water, sleep, etc

> That is why the ultimate form of punishment in our society is to isolate the individual from all human contact.

it is a severe punishment, but again not as crucial as physiological needs. most would (and should) choose isolation from human contact for much longer than isolation from water

> Why does it matter that the medium is digital?

You can't eat it

[rootlocus]

> That is why the ultimate form of punishment in our society is to isolate the individual from all human contact.

I would've thought the ultimate form of punishment is execution. If you were talking about life in prison however, I think the reason is to keep the other people safe, not to inflict psychological pain on the convicted.