enshittification

English

Etymology

From en- (“caused”) ‎ shittification (“becoming shitty”). As a designation for a particular phenomenon affecting online platforms, coined by Canadian-British-American blogger, journalist, and science fiction author Cory Doctorow in 2022.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˌʃɪtɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, /ɛnˌʃɪtɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

enshittification (uncountable)

1. (neologism, Internet, vulgar) The phenomenon of online platforms gradually degrading the quality of their services, often by promoting advertisements and sponsored content, in order to increase profits.
   • 2022 November 28, Cory Doctorow, “How monopoly enshittified Amazon”, in Pluralistic‎^[1], archived from the original on 2023-03-26:

     Ultimately, it doesn't matter if Amazon's enshittification is because [Jeff] Bezos was a cynic or because he sold out. Once Amazon could make more money by screwing its customers, that screw-job became a fait accompli.

   • 2023 January 28, Cory Doctorow, “The 'Enshittification' of TikTok”, in Wired‎^[2], archived from the original on 2024-01-20:

     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 call this enshittification

   • 2023 March 3, Tim Harford, “The enshittification of apps is real. But is it bad?”, in Financial Times‎^[3], London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 5 March 2023:

     Both switching costs and network effects tend to lead to enshittification because platform providers see early adopters as an investment in future profits.

   • 2023 March 11, John Naughton, “Users, advertisers – we are all trapped in the 'enshittification' of the internet”, in The Observer‎^[4], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-19:

     But it's not just users who are effectively incarcerated by enshittification. The advertisers and vendors who are the real customers of tech platforms are also prisoners.

   • 2023 November 25, Jane Cassidy, “Matheson might just be the latest victim of ongoing ‘platform decay’”, in The National, Glasgow, page 20:

     Musk perceived instantly that he had one of the perfect conditions for enshittification. Twitter had a multi-million-strong user base, who had built up relationships and reputations among themselves over years.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:enshittification.

Related terms

• enshittify
• shittification
• shittiness

 

Further reading

• “Enshittification”, in Know Your Meme, launched 2007
• Nancy Friedman (2023 February 1) “Enshittification”, in Strong Language‎^[5], archived from the original on 2023-03-28