cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/487849
“Here is how platforms die: First, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.”
I didn’t know Cory Doctorow was still around, but he is, and he’s spot-on. It’s an extremely insightful analysis of why Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok, Slashdot, Digg, and now Redhat and Reddit, tend to go down the exact same inexorable-business-logic pathway which makes their platforms less and less useful over time until people abandon them.
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It’s far older than described, really. It’s called a bait and switch, when you lure a party in with something and then swap it out with something else once they commit.
This is just a modern, tech version, and mirrored two ways I guess? Higher degree of refinement.
Looking forward to seeing Enshittification added to Websters Dictionary soon. We’re not gonna stop using it so they might as well just add it.
Cory was a guest on Adam Conovers (from Adam Ruins Everything) podcast Factually! a while back talking about chokepoint capitalism.
Doctorow’s website is one of the last remaining “no bs” sites I know of. No ads, no trackers, ever. It’s beautiful.
