Maybe enshittification is a good thing. Here's why

enshittification [en-shit-uh-fi-key-shuhn] (noun): the gradual degradation of an online platform or service's functionality, as part of a cycle in which the platform or service first offers benefits to users to attract them, then pursues more and more profits at the expense of users.

"Enshittification" by default is a bad thing. It's in the name. Even if you didn't know what it was, if you heard something was "enshittified," would you have a positive inclination towards it? Probably not.

As the trap of enshittification closes in on us all, the optimist in me thinks, "You know what? Maybe this is a good thing."

• Google
  • Destroyed by fake (and often harmful) sponsored results.
  • Plagued by lengthy and irrelevant search-engine-optimized results, many of which are now AI-generated and wildly inaccurate, strengthening the landslide of misinformation.
  • Suppressing valuable and independent content in exchange for its own proprietary ecosystem and walled garden.
• YouTube
  • Launched a "global effort" to crack down on ad blockers.
• Discord
  • Injecting ads to boost revenue.
  • Forcing arbitration.
• Netflix
  • Launching an anti-password-sharing policy.
• Facebook + Threads + Instagram
  • Embrace, extend, and extinguish.
  • Agree to personalized ads, or pay up.
• Amazon
  • No longer gives you the best results, but rather the results from sellers who paid the most to appear at the top.
  • Rampant in counterfeit products.
  • Rampant in fake reviews.
• Roku and "Smart" TV manufacturers
  • Ever wonder why the price of TVs has fallen? Because your data and constant surveillance is much more valuable than the one-time sale of the TV.
• Printers
  • Manufacturers remotely disabling your printer until you subscribe to their cartridge refill program.
• Tesla
  • Gatekeeping battery capacity behind software updates.
• Twitter
  • Restrictive API. Loss of ownership. Biometrics. Data mining. Surveillance. No control over your social graph. Invasive and deceptive ads. Anti-free speech and anti-net neutrality practices.
• TikTok
  • The inevitable attention game.
• Reddit
  • Subreddits going dark, killing third-party apps, and the great Reddit migration.
• WhatsApp
  • How private (and secure) are your conversations if moderators can read your messages?
• Hulu, Max, Prime Video, Netflix, Apple Music, Spotify, and every other streaming service
  • We don't own anything (despite paying for it) and it can be removed at any time without warning.

Piracy on the rise again. Streaming was supposed to end piracy, but it ended up making it worse. So it's no surprise to see an increase of people "sailing the high seas.

Let me be clear: I don’t “like” that things have gotten this bad, but I do like that the worse things get, the more we can collectively organize and pressure reform to fix these things.

It’d be great to see a true social revolution take place in our lifetimes. We built this, albeit incorrectly. We can also take it down and rebuild it.

Imagine value-based services provided in exchange for money, not monopolized by businesses that are designed and can only survive by exploiting its users (both individual consumers and other businesses).

How bad do things have to get in order to see meaningful change? Only time will tell.