Pluralistic: Tiktok’s enshittification (21 Jan 2023)
pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys
What Jamie wrote
Super interesting post from Doctorow describing a pattern of value shift over many, many platforms.
This is enshittification: surpluses are first directed to users; then, once they're locked in, surpluses go to suppliers; then once they're locked in, the surplus is handed to shareholders and the platform becomes a useless pile of shit. From mobile app stores to Steam, from Facebook to Twitter, this is the enshittification lifecycle.
The pattern he describes has definitely played out many times. And I like his approach that the best remedy isn't to protect these platforms (err companies) but instead make it easy to get your data out. The ability to hold user data hostage is the thing to fix. Doctorow includes crypto in his thesis here. Certainly the pattern he describes with crypto has happened, but I disagree that it makes the entire domain worthless.