A few months back, Corey Doctorow wrote a blog about Enshittification, which is a process of taking a good, fun, and useable product and gradually, through a clear set of steps, make it terrible. Or a shitty product.

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.

https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/

It is likely you favorite App will go through this process. First, you have a great app that seems like it brings you a lot of value, then it gets a little crappier, clunkier to use, more logins more data tracked, then you’re getting charged a subscription, then you feel like you’re getting ads in the app you’re subscribed too.

This is part of the reason why Google dropped the “Don’t Be Evil” motto. They were doing things previous versions of themselves would have considered Evil. Case in point, moving into China and censoring part of the internet. They still do, just on a much more limited basis. It’s the “Cost of Doing Business.” If that’s the cost of doing business, then they’ve already gone to the point of abusing their users.

I don’t think this is the only way platforms/apps die. I think they are often left to rot and die through neglect after a purchase. If a larger competitor gobbles up a smaller one, the larger competitor can extract the best bits of the smaller product and put them into their Enshittified product. This leaves the original smaller more innovative app, much worse off.

Fighting against Enshittification is hard. It requires collective action. It requires users to demand regulation to protect the user from Enshitification. It’s a constant battle, this isn’t a one time set and forget action.

Section 230 is one of the best things for any internet platform, but it’s been under constant attack. It’s under attack because it allows businesses to keep Nazi’s off a platform. It keeps Right Wing Fascists off a platform. The problem for Right Wing Politicians in office is that their talking points line up or are softened versions of Nazi rhetoric. So, those platforms, if they use automation for moderation, will kick Right Wing voices off, because they sound like Nazis.

Section 230 is very far from perfect, but it protects businesses that do not want to Enshittifiy the way eXTwitter has Enshittified.

Call your Senator and support actions to block mergers. Call your Representatives and support actions to protect users