Enshittification: Decoding Big Tech’s Downward Spiral with Cory Doctorow
Remember when your favorite social media platform felt genuinely useful? When search results were laser-focused, and online marketplaces connected you seamlessly with exactly what you needed? For many of us, that feeling has been steadily eroding, replaced by an endless scroll of ads, algorithmic mischief, and a general sense of decline. This pervasive digital decay has a name, coined by visionary author and activist Cory Doctorow: “enshittification.”
Doctorow’s insightful term perfectly encapsulates the phenomenon where online platforms, initially designed to serve users, gradually degrade their offerings to extract more value from both users and business partners. It’s a process that’s not just annoying; it’s systematically dismantling the promise of the internet and warrants a closer look at its mechanisms, consequences, and what we, as digital citizens, can do about it.
The Three Phases of Enshittification: A Descent into Disadvantage
Doctorow outlines a clear, three-stage process by which platforms undergo this regrettable transformation. It’s a predictable cycle that prioritizes profit over utility, leading to a poorer experience for everyone except, perhaps, the platform’s shareholders.
The first phase is all about attracting users and producers. In these early stages, platforms like Facebook, Amazon, or Google offer compelling value. For users, this means seamless communication, unparalleled search capabilities, or access to a vast marketplace. For businesses and content creators, it offers a direct line to an audience, often with low or no fees. The goal here is rapid growth, establishing a network effect that makes the platform indispensable. Think of early Facebook, connecting college students, or YouTube offering creators a way to monetize their content without traditional gatekeepers.
Once a platform achieves critical mass – millions, or even billions, of users and countless businesses relying on its infrastructure – it enters the second phase: squeezing producers. With a captive audience, the platform can now start to extract more value from those who supply the content or sell the goods. Algorithms change to favor paid promotion, advertising costs skyrocket, and commission fees increase. Suddenly, the organic reach that content creators once enjoyed diminishes, forcing them to pay to reach their own followers. Sellers on Amazon find themselves competing with Amazon’s own products, often at a disadvantage, and facing ever-increasing fees.
The final, and most frustrating, phase is when the platform begins to extract value from users themselves. Having alienated many producers and saturated the market with ads, the platform turns its gaze to the people who made it popular in the first place. You see this in the relentless bombardment of targeted advertising, the degradation of search results with sponsored content, and the insidious collection and monetization of personal data. The utility of the platform diminishes, replaced by a constant struggle to navigate an increasingly cluttered, less efficient, and often more irritating experience. Instagram’s feed, once showing posts from friends, now prioritizes Reels from strangers and sponsored content, leaving users feeling frustrated and disconnected.
Why Does This Keep Happening? The Monopoly Motive
The core driver behind enshittification, according to Doctorow, is the pursuit of monopoly. When a platform becomes so dominant that there are no viable alternatives, it gains immense power. This power allows it to dictate terms to both users and businesses without fear of losing them to a competitor. If you want to reach a broad audience online, Instagram or TikTok are often the only games in town. If you want to sell products online with a massive reach, Amazon is practically unavoidable.
This lack of genuine competition removes the incentive to maintain quality or user satisfaction. Why invest in a better user experience when your users have nowhere else to go? The focus shifts entirely to maximizing short-term profits, even if it means alienating the very people who built the platform’s success. It’s a classic economic trap: without market forces to keep them honest, monopolies invariably prioritize their own bottom line over public good.
What Can Be Done? Fighting Back Against the Digital Decay
Understanding enshittification is the first step, but what’s the solution? Doctorow proposes several critical avenues for resistance and reform.
One key approach is to promote interoperability and data portability. Imagine if you could easily move your entire social network and all your posts from Facebook to a new, smaller, more user-friendly platform. Or if your product reviews and purchase history could seamlessly transfer from Amazon to an ethical marketplace. This ability to “switch horses” would dramatically reduce platform lock-in and force Big Tech to compete on quality and service, rather than trapping users. Legislation mandating these features would be a powerful tool.
Another crucial element is robust antitrust enforcement. Breaking up monopolies and preventing future ones from forming would reintroduce genuine competition into the digital landscape. If there were numerous viable search engines, social media platforms, and online marketplaces, they would have to actively vie for our attention and loyalty, leading to better products and services for everyone. This includes scrutinizing mergers and acquisitions that further consolidate power.
Finally, Doctorow emphasizes the importance of collective action and advocating for user rights. This could take the form of consumer advocacy groups pushing for stronger regulations, or developers creating open-source alternatives. It also involves educating ourselves and others about the mechanisms of enshittification, shifting the narrative from passive acceptance to informed demand for better digital spaces. Supporting privacy-focused technologies and ethical businesses is a personal way to contribute.
Conclusion: Reclaiming Our Digital Future
Enshittification is more than just a catchy term; it’s a profound analysis of a systemic problem plaguing our digital lives. It highlights how the relentless pursuit of profit and market dominance by Big Tech is eroding the very utility and joy that once defined the internet. From ad-riddled feeds to algorithmically manipulated search results, the signs of this decay are everywhere.
However, understanding the mechanisms behind enshittification empowers us to push back. By advocating for interoperability, demanding stronger antitrust measures, and supporting ethical, user-centric alternatives, we can collectively work to reclaim our digital spaces. It’s a long battle, but by recognizing the problem and actively seeking solutions, we can begin to reverse the tide and build an internet that truly serves humanity, not just shareholders.