Anil Dash: “Link in Bio” Is a Slow Knife

For a closed system, those kinds of open connections are deeply dangerous. If anyone on Instagram can just link to any old store on the web, how can Instagram — meaning Facebook, Instagram’s increasingly-overbearing owner — tightly control commerce on its platform? If Instagram users could post links willy-nilly, they might even be able to connect directly to their users, getting their email addresses or finding other ways to communicate with them. Links represent a threat to closed systems.

It’s hard not to read this and also think about iOS and Apple’s treatment of links. Developers are allowed to link to the web from their apps, of course, but may god have mercy on your soul if you try to make one of those links take a user somewhere that lets them buy something that they can enjoy on their iPhone or iPad. Incredibly (or predictably), when Apple was forced to let developers link out to their sites for maying payments out of Apple’s in-app purchase system, they allowed…get this…one link, just like Instagram profiles (I think this requirement was nixed, but honestly not 100% sure where it stands).

But back on the social media thing, I recently linked to a video by Hank Green where he effectively lays out why social media sites like X and Threads overtly down-ranking posts with links in them. As he puts it, social media giants are all too thrilled to let people build an audience on their platforms and actively post to keep engagement up, but as soon as that creator wants to benefit from that audience themselves and build a relationship with them, the platform does everything it can to stop it. I’m sure Musk and Mosseri of X and Threads (respectively) would tell you that things are complicated and it’s actually good that they prevent links from spreading too much, but it’s convenient that this also aligns perfectly with their goals of keeping you on their services for as much time as possible. They’ll keep you safe. They’ll be the mediator in your relationship with your audience. Trust them.

I love the web, and I’m very happy that social platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky exist that don’t try to squash out creators who dare to link out to their work.