In his Marshall McLuhan lecture at Berlin’s Transmediale festival 2024, Cory Doctorow introduced a vivid and highly resonant concept called “enshittification” to describe the inevitable decline of online platforms. The term is not only provocative but also incredibly precise, providing a framework for understanding how the online ecosystems we rely on degrade over time. Doctorow’s speech offers a compelling narrative on how platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and others follow a predictable path of decline—moving from being user-friendly to exploitative, ultimately collapsing under the weight of their own greed.
This blog post unpacks Doctorow’s lecture, analyzing the concept of enshittification, its key mechanisms, and its implications for how we interact with digital platforms.
What is Enshittification?
Doctorow defines enshittification as the life cycle of digital platforms, characterized by three distinct phases:
- The user-centric phase
In their infancy, platforms focus on delivering value to users. This is the golden age of a platform, when users find it incredibly useful, fun, or engaging. During this phase, platforms typically offer generous incentives, free services, and prioritize creating a seamless user experience. The goal here is to attract as many users as possible and gain a foothold in the market. Examples include Facebook in its early years, which was ad-free and centered around connecting friends, or Amazon, which offered discounts and free shipping to woo customers. - The business-centric phase
Once platforms have captured a significant user base, the focus shifts to attracting business customers. At this stage, the platform begins to prioritize advertisers, sellers, or third-party vendors, using the user base as leverage. In this phase, users start noticing subtle changes—ads become more frequent, algorithms promote sponsored content, and genuine organic experiences decline. The platform is no longer entirely for the user but also for paying business clients. - The self-centric phase
In the final phase, platforms begin exploiting both users and businesses to maximize their own profits. At this point, the quality of the user experience nosedives. Users are inundated with ads and manipulated by opaque algorithms designed to extract as much value as possible. Businesses, meanwhile, face rising costs and diminishing returns on their investment in the platform. For example, small sellers on Amazon are forced to compete with Amazon’s own branded products, while advertisers on Facebook contend with ever-increasing ad rates.
The platform, in its quest for short-term gains, undermines the very ecosystems it depends on, eventually leading to its decline.
Why does enshittification happen?
Doctorow’s central argument is that enshittification is not an accident. It’s the result of deliberate choices made by executives and shareholders. As platforms grow, the pressure to deliver higher profits to investors leads to decisions that sacrifice long-term health for short-term gains.
The mechanisms driving enshittification include:
- Monopoly Power: Platforms consolidate control over their markets, leaving users and businesses with few alternatives. Once users are locked in, platforms feel free to degrade the experience.
- Data Extraction: Platforms use surveillance capitalism to harvest and monetize user data, often without consent. This data fuels targeted advertising, which prioritizes profit over user well-being.
- Algorithmic Manipulation: Algorithms are designed to maximize engagement (and therefore ad revenue), often by promoting sensational or polarizing content. This erodes trust and creates toxic environments.
Doctorow makes it clear that these outcomes are not inevitable. They are the result of identifiable decisions made by specific people in positions of power.
Examples of enshittification
Doctorow cites several examples of enshittification in action:
- Facebook: What began as a platform for connecting with friends gradually morphed into an ad-heavy space rife with misinformation and exploitative algorithms. Facebook prioritized engagement metrics and ad revenue at the cost of user experience.
- Amazon: Initially a user-friendly marketplace, Amazon now undercuts third-party sellers, charges exorbitant fees, and floods its platform with low-quality products—all while collecting vast amounts of data on its users.
- Twitter: Before its recent troubles, Twitter was already on the path of enshittification, prioritizing promoted tweets and pay-to-play visibility over genuine organic interactions.
Doctorow’s analysis extends beyond tech platforms to include broader economic systems, highlighting how the same dynamics play out in other industries, from healthcare to retail.
Can enshittification be stopped?
Doctorow is cautiously optimistic about the potential to reverse enshittification. He argues that recognizing the patterns is the first step. By understanding how platforms exploit users and businesses, we can demand accountability and push for systemic change. Some of his proposed solutions include:
- Regulation: Governments should enforce antitrust laws to break up monopolies and promote competition.
- Interoperability: Mandating open standards and protocols would allow users to move between platforms without losing their data or social connections.
- Collective Action: Users and workers can band together to demand better practices, whether through boycotts, unionization, or activism.
The broader implications
Doctorow’s speech highlights a larger issue: the commodification of human interaction. Platforms that once promised to connect and empower us have instead become tools for extraction and exploitation. This trend raises important questions about the role of technology in society and whether we can reclaim the digital commons.
Enshittification is not an inevitable outcome. It’s a choice. By understanding the forces at play and demanding better, we can imagine a future where platforms serve people, not profits.
For those interested in diving deeper, the full text of Doctorow’s lecture is available on Pluralistic. It’s a must-read for anyone grappling with the state of the internet today.
