Book recco - Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow

Enshittification is an expansion by Doctorow of his brilliantly coined term “endshitification.” As you read what follows, think of Facebook, then Twitter, then Amazon.

Enshittification is Doctorow’s term for the predictable and, to date, almost inevitable three-step process whereby tech platforms start as user-centric wonderlands - new features, low friction, solving customer problems, and creating magical new experiences. Then, at some point along the way, they shift their focus from users to business customers in search of revenue, predominantly advertisers and sellers. They build most new products and experiences for this audience, and the end-user experience starts degrading. And finally, once they’ve hit scale and, arguably, a monopoly in their space, they start exploiting everyone to maximize revenue for shareholders and investors. To be clear: I’m as capitalist as the next person. But the pattern is clear that while profits can persist for a long time, this final phase is so ruinous to the user experience that the table is set for the platform to falter and lose relevance. The only bulk work is the platform’s now near ubiquity/monopoly (insert: Amazon) or the ability to buy your way into future relevance (insert: Instagram and WhatsApp).

Bottom line: we’re stuck in a late-stage capitalism cycle wherein profits outrank customers. And monopolies are ok as long as some of us can be investors in them. And the world is changing too fast for us to govern very effectively unless we change our ways (insert: AI).

While Doctrow outlines a host of structural/legislative/socital solutions. As business leaders, the watchout is how to track this cycle across different platforms, like set waves coming through the lineup. How do you catch the new platforms as they rise? And how to mitigate the potential brand risks of overcommitting to end-stage shititication platforms where the crap user experience reflects on your brand (e.g. counterfit product, attrocious search results, shallow influencers, etc.)?