[mdp]

Perfect example is my local coffee shop that is 100% on Instagram only.

They've done amazingly well on just Instagram with the groups they are targeting. I doubt that a website would have any impact on their business. In fact Instagram gives them something much easier, more visual, and with a built in social feed (no need to setup a mailing list, just use Instagram).

"But it's a walled garden..." - Most people don't really care. And also, it's a coffee shop. If Instagram shutdown, they'd be on the next platform in a week and rebuilding the same following.

It's annoying to people like me, but don't see it changing anytime soon, and I can't really blame the business.

[dabbz]

Nobody cares until the automated trust and safety bot bans an account for no apparent reason and you can't contact a human for help. Before that happens though, how do you get someone to care? I suppose it's risk management at that point. "What are the odds that I'll get inconvenienced by Instagram before the ROI on establishing on their platform pays out"

[snowwrestler]

To be fair, Google Search does this to sites too. Small sites can see all their traffic disappear within a few days if an algorithm update goes against them. And there is zero recourse.

[rglover]

> Before that happens though, how do you get someone to care?

You don't. Only a relatively small minority will care, most will happily take what they're given (even if, paradoxically, they spend time complaining about the thing).

It's not a matter of logic/reason/rationality. It all comes down to "I don't want to think; just give me the good feeling."

[catcowcostume]

Irrelevant issue for 99.9% of businesses