The obituary writers have sharpened their quills: "The Internet, b. 1991, d. soon after we stopped clicking." The BBC recently floated this sombre prospect, noting that users increasingly skim social-media summaries and AI overviews instead of opening the underlying pages. I share the BBC's misgivings. When readers dodge the blue hyper-link or refuse to click through from LinkedIn to the full article, ideas lose their provenance, writers lose their income, and I—your humble commentator—lose my temper.
From Super-highway to Slip Road
In the halcyon days of what is now nostalgically referred to as the "Wild West Era" of the internet, a click whisked me from one understaffed university server to another like a giddy archivist in a zero-gravity library. Today, there is seldom a journey only a destination—where time to result is measured in milliseconds. LinkedIn's engagement rate for posts that do contain a live link languishes at 3.4%, well below photos or polls. In other words, most 'professionals' are scrolling past the gate and never enter the garden. It seems that when it comes to content access, far more of us are GenMe than GenWe.
Even Google is quietly encouraging drive-by consumption. Early tests of its AI-generated 'Overviews' showed click-through rates to publishers falling by 30–40 percent. The machine serves a flattering précis, users (for they are no longer seekers) feel informed, and primary sources fade into the background like uncredited session musicians.
