Once upon a time, neat/surprising/weird/amazing sites were part of the currency of the internet. "Check out this link" was a welcome message. Sites full of links to neat stuff were really popular. You tried to fill your chat app with friends who consistently linked you to neat stuff.

Now, no more. "Check out this link" is not an enticing offer, it's assigning homework. I don't know if it's because neat stuff is no longer rare and we've collectively had our fill, or because everything got so co-opted and corrupted that we go in to every new site with one wary eye watching for the dark patterns. But one way or the other, people don't share links. They share memes instead, which ask far less of us, and are much harder to monetize.