cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/487849
“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 didn’t know Cory Doctorow was still around, but he is, and he’s spot-on. It’s an extremely insightful analysis of why Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok, Slashdot, Digg, and now Redhat and Reddit, tend to go down the exact same inexorable-business-logic pathway which makes their platforms less and less useful over time until people abandon them.
It’s far older than described, really. It’s called a bait and switch, when you lure a party in with something and then swap it out with something else once they commit.
This is just a modern, tech version, and mirrored two ways I guess? Higher degree of refinement.
Cory was a guest on Adam Conovers (from Adam Ruins Everything) podcast Factually! a while back talking about chokepoint capitalism.
Looking forward to seeing Enshittification added to Websters Dictionary soon. We’re not gonna stop using it so they might as well just add it.
Doctorow’s website is one of the last remaining “no bs” sites I know of. No ads, no trackers, ever. It’s beautiful.
