[iansinnott]

I think the sentiment you describe has more to do with alignment of interests: Starbucks wants to sell you coffee, free online services on the other hand want to sell access-to-you to some third party.

There also aren't the same network effects. No one feels obligated to visit Starbucks even though they dislike it due to all their friends/family only conversing at Starbucks.

[anal_reactor]

> Starbucks wants to sell you coffee, free online services on the other hand want to sell access-to-you to some third party.

That's exactly the business model of shopping malls. They create a fun place to hang out at that just happens to have hundreds of shops.

> There also aren't the same network effects. No one feels obligated to visit Starbucks even though they dislike it due to all their friends/family only conversing at Starbucks.

Most sizeable events have low ticket price but they search your bag for potential food or drinks so that they can sell you their own overpriced ones. You can bring a Kalashnikov but a bottle of water is a big no-no

[shafyy]

Who thinks a mall is a fun place to hang out at? People go to malls because it's convenient to have everything you need for shopping at one place, and there's some shitty food for in between.

In the US teenagers teenagers hang out at malls, but that's only because cities and communities don't give a shit about building inclusive places for all people to spend time without needing to spend money.

[happymellon]

> Who thinks a mall is a fun place to hang out at?

Indeed. If malls were fun, why are they all being abandoned and closed down due to a lack of foot traffic?

[anal_reactor]

Okay this business model doesn't work anymore, but it used to.

[p_l]

Don't shopping malls in USA have increasing tendency to have anti-loitering rules against spending time on anything other than shopping, pretty much?