Different platforms exist for different reasons. LinkedIn is where you go to connect professionally, while Instagram is more about sharing life in pictures. Reddit is a hub for deep discussions, and TikTok? That’s for fun, fast videos. Mashing all of these into one app would likely make it too cluttered and lose what makes each one special.

There’s also the business side. These platforms are owned by different companies, many of which are in direct competition. Getting them to merge would be incredibly complicated not to mention, regulators would likely step in to prevent a single company from controlling too much of our online lives.

Then there’s us, the users. People have strong preferences. Some love Twitter’s quick-fire updates, others prefer the creative freedom of YouTube. A single mega-platform might try to do everything, but it probably wouldn’t do any one thing really well.

That said, we are seeing platforms start to copy each other. Think about how almost every app now has some version of Stories, short videos, or community chat features. And apps owned by the same company—like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, are already getting more connected behind the scenes.

So while total unification is unlikely, a little blending here and there? That’s already happening.