Enshittification
en.wikipedia.org
Enshittification
1–10 of 19 posts
Re: Enshittification
#2This may not be in the dictionary, but it's an English word with a common prefix and suffix. If we consider English to be an agglutinative language or have agglutinative parts, this is just a rarely used form of a word, and I wouldn't think a second about using it in a general context. Trying to reserve it in this specific context of platform decay I think probably won't stick and I don't get why it's a headline or has a whole Wikipedia article
Re: Enshittification
#3Maybe it's just the inevitable Nash Equilibrium of every privately-owned social network, once growth starts slowing down?
I mean, early on, while the focus is on acquiring new customers, the overriding goal is to delight them. Everyone is excited and happy.
Later on, as the focus shifts to monetization, the overriding goal is to extract as much value as possible without angering customers into leaving.
By the end, everyone is feeling like a cog in an impersonal machine.
Re: Enshittification
#4This may not be in the dictionary, but it's an English word with a common prefix and suffix. If we consider English to be an agglutinative language or have agglutinative parts, this is just a rarely used form of a word, and I wouldn't think a second about using it in a general context. Trying to reserve it in this specific context of platform decay I think probably won't stick and I don't get why it's a headline or h…
It's already not sticking, it's already used to whine about any kind of change, any redesign on HN. One imagines an old folk's home where people cry "enshittification" every time a wall is painted in a different color.
Platform Decay is four syllables, Enshittification is six. The reason it's used, when a more precise word would be shorter, is precisely because it appeals to a general anxiety about change.
Re: Enshittification
#5I HATE how much Cory Doctorow I see on the internet. it's been like this for 20+ years.
This man is well motivated, is doing good work for common people and doing his best to advance the things that need advancement. fantastic.
one thing, though. he is easily the most annoying person on earth, to me. instinctually I go against what he is doing because of it. why does the most annoying person on the planet, according to me, get to coin terrible words like this? there are already so many other words that mean the same thing, and "things getting worse" has been a topic of discussion for everyone on earth at some point or another, going back as far as human speech. but this guy just gets to make up words which suck and everyone loves it?
fuck this guy, I'm turning evil. if C.D. were 1% palatable I would be behind him, but he's not.
can't we find someone who doesn't rub me raw to coin words? this guy gets to coin terrible words and give me two plus decades of full-time activism fatigue and I get downvoted on the shitty orange website for having this opinion.
Re: Enshittification
#6I HATE how much Cory Doctorow I see on the internet. it's been like this for 20+ years. This man is well motivated, is doing good work for common people and doing his best to advance the things that need advancement. fantastic. one thing, though. he is easily the most annoying person on earth, to me. instinctually I go against what he is doing because of it. why does the most annoying person on the planet, according…
honestly don’t get this take. it’s a perfectly catchy word, and i find most of doctorow’s writings on the subject of capitalism’s destruction of the internet to be pretty accurate.
what particular things about him are so unpalatable you would be willing to support anti-consumer practices (“turning evil”) to spite him? I assume you’re probably kidding for exaggeration, but still it’s not clear to me what is that offputting about him.
Re: Enshittification
#7Maybe it's just the inevitable Nash Equilibrium of every privately-owned social network, once growth starts slowing down? I mean, early on, while the focus is on acquiring new customers, the overriding goal is to delight them. Everyone is excited and happy. Later on, as the focus shifts to monetization, the overriding goal is to extract as much value as possible without angering customers into leaving. By the end, ev…
"Maybe"? I think it's pretty clear that's exactly it.
Capitalism demands constant growth. Any company will reach a point where they've achieved maximum market saturation, where anybody who would ever use your product is now using it. But profits must continue to go up! So you have to find ways to monetize. You either start inserting ads (and redesign the site to make sure you see the ads!), or start charging money. Often the second option involves making the default experience shitty while making the paid option equivalent to the previous standard.
Whatever the method, it doesn't matter. The line must go up, even as daily active users remains sideways or even down!
Re: Enshittification
#8I HATE how much Cory Doctorow I see on the internet. it's been like this for 20+ years. This man is well motivated, is doing good work for common people and doing his best to advance the things that need advancement. fantastic. one thing, though. he is easily the most annoying person on earth, to me. instinctually I go against what he is doing because of it. why does the most annoying person on the planet, according…
honestly don’t get this take. it’s a perfectly catchy word, and i find most of doctorow’s writings on the subject of capitalism’s destruction of the internet to be pretty accurate. what particular things about him are so unpalatable you would be willing to support anti-consumer practices (“turning evil”) to spite him? I assume you’re probably kidding for exaggeration, but still it’s not clear to me what is that offpu…
I agree with GP. It's not so much what he says but how he says and promotes it.
Re: Enshittification
#9This may not be in the dictionary, but it's an English word with a common prefix and suffix. If we consider English to be an agglutinative language or have agglutinative parts, this is just a rarely used form of a word, and I wouldn't think a second about using it in a general context. Trying to reserve it in this specific context of platform decay I think probably won't stick and I don't get why it's a headline or h…
It's already not sticking, it's already used to whine about any kind of change, any redesign on HN. One imagines an old folk's home where people cry "enshittification" every time a wall is painted in a different color. Platform Decay is four syllables, Enshittification is six. The reason it's used, when a more precise word would be shorter, is precisely because it appeals to a general anxiety about change.
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Re: Enshittification
#10Maybe it's just the inevitable Nash Equilibrium of every privately-owned social network, once growth starts slowing down? I mean, early on, while the focus is on acquiring new customers, the overriding goal is to delight them. Everyone is excited and happy. Later on, as the focus shifts to monetization, the overriding goal is to extract as much value as possible without angering customers into leaving. By the end, ev…
"Maybe"? I think it's pretty clear that's exactly it. Capitalism demands constant growth. Any company will reach a point where they've achieved maximum market saturation, where anybody who would ever use your product is now using it. But profits must continue to go up! So you have to find ways to monetize. You either start inserting ads (and redesign the site to make sure you see the ads!), or start charging money. O…
And realist in me says that after they start charging money they will add ads too.. As that will make more revenue...