Cory Doctorow's attempt to brand "platform decay" as "enshittification" is polluting the english language with an ugly and coarsening word. Instead of the self-exemplifying "enshittifying" use "platform decay" which is immediately intelligible.
Don't use "enshittification" use "platform decay"
1–10 of 20 posts
Re: Don't use "enshittification" use "platform decay"
#2I'll keep using enshittification because that's what it is.
Re: Don't use "enshittification" use "platform decay"
#3For the context, the latest article on this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41277484
Re: Don't use "enshittification" use "platform decay"
#4I'll keep using enshittification because that's what it is.
It's like Stallman calling Facebook users "useds" because they are used (https://stallman.org/facebook.html). Technically correct but doesn't help to spread the message.
Re: Don't use "enshittification" use "platform decay"
#5Enshittification does not apply to platforms only. It applies to products, services, companies alike. Even beloved foods and snacks. Quality nosedives, people abandon the product, MBAs act all surprised "how? why would consumer turn their nose to our more expensive, shittier, new "improved" taste offering"?
Re: Don't use "enshittification" use "platform decay"
#6I agree.
I complained about this in the past.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39489594
Platform decay is a much better word and makes sense.
Even as I type this ‘enshittification’ word my device wants to autocorrect it, I don’t care if it’s purposely made for shock value, I wish ‘enshittification’ was never coined or added to any dictionary nor should be ‘word of the year’.
Again, should this word continue to permeate in the English vocabulary, people will be saying it on the radio, TV where by law swearing is not allowed to be broadcast.
All it takes is a freudian slip.
Re: Don't use "enshittification" use "platform decay"
#7If you don't like the word, you're free to use something else.
I won't — "enshittification" is an extremely precise word that captures exactly what's going on with products, services, companies, and many other entities.
Re: Don't use "enshittification" use "platform decay"
#8Enshittification does not apply to platforms only. It applies to products, services, companies alike. Even beloved foods and snacks. Quality nosedives, people abandon the product, MBAs act all surprised "how? why would consumer turn their nose to our more expensive, shittier, new "improved" taste offering"?
The wikipedia article for enshittification is only about platforms because the word applies specifically to how networks grow and are monetized. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification
Re: Don't use "enshittification" use "platform decay"
#9Nah, enshittification is a way better word. Platform decay sounds too natural, like a tree falling in a forest.
It's like when the platform itself tries its hand at shitposting. When the software becomes shitware. Not so much a passive voice, but an active somebody-threw-it-down-the-shitter kind of vibe.
Re: Don't use "enshittification" use "platform decay"
#10Nah, enshittification is a way better word. Platform decay sounds too natural, like a tree falling in a forest. It's like when the platform itself tries its hand at shitposting. When the software becomes shitware. Not so much a passive voice, but an active somebody-threw-it-down-the-shitter kind of vibe.
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