Enshittification: Why Everything Got Worse and How to Stop It.

What is 'enshittification'?

According to Vox: TikTok and airlines have much in common with your search engines, products in the store, and even your car: at first everything works great, and then you get stuck in the system, and eventually, quality significantly deteriorates. This familiar process has a vivid name: 'enshittification'.

Cory Doctorow has been writing about this for years as a journalist, activist, and science fiction author. His new book, Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It, is a practical guide on how platforms lose quality, why it happens, and what steps can change the situation.

I invited Doctorow to The Gray Area to discuss the lifecycle of a platform, consider the political decisions that have contributed to modern technological feudalism, and outline structural changes that could make the internet less exploitative and more humane.

This interview has been condensed for convenience.

Why do we continue using deteriorating products?

'Platforms can constantly change what you see and what you pay for, while users and independent developers cannot look under the hood or restore the balance.'

Many people think that the responsibility lies with consumers, claiming that 'if you are not paying for the product, you are the product'. But the truth is, competition is limited, and it is very difficult to switch to an alternative when you have no other choice.

Why are platforms so conducive to 'enshittification'?

Platforms are intermediaries between end-users and business clients, complicating the situation for consumers. Because of their ability to change the business logic for each user, they can manipulate the environment. This allows platforms to continuously increase costs for users through complex market mechanisms.

Examples of 'enshittification'

Facebook

Initially, Facebook attracted users by promising chronological news without ads. Over time, a problem arose: the more users, the less likely there would be mass exit from the platform. Once users became dependent, Facebook changed its strategy, focusing on business clients and advertisers.

Amazon

Amazon experiences 'enshittification' due to constant revenue-seeking, resulting in the emergence of new advertising mechanisms that do not reflect the best deals. Customers looking for better prices often cannot find them due to fixed commissions.

Conclusion

Doctorow emphasizes that market consortia and legal changes are important to address these issues. As he notes, 'structural problems require structural solutions'. The question is whether we can achieve them.

Listen to the full interview and don't forget to subscribe to The Gray Area on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, or other platforms.

Thus, the concept of 'enshittification' opens up new perspectives for understanding how modern technologies affect service quality and user interaction with platforms. Awareness of these issues could be a catalyst for change in this area.