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Why is Lemmy obsessed with the word "enshittification"? (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 1 year ago by overload@sopuli.xyz to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I see it referenced constantly here, not quite as much on Reddit. I know what it means, but just wondering why such the popularity over on this side of the fence?

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[–] maxprime@lemmy.ml 71 points 1 year ago (10 children)

I think a lot of people also misuse the word and use it as a catch-all for companies doing something they don’t like.

Raising prices is not enshittification, that’s inflation.

Not paying employees well is not enshittification, that’s under-compensation.

YouTube putting more ads in their videos including when the video is paused isn’t enshittification that’s… wait no that is enshittification.

Enshittification refers to offering the same service (often free, or at least with an option to pay more) but making it worse in order to squeeze you onto a paid (or higher paid) tier of service. This sounds good to shareholders but ultimately it alienates their customers and often leads to a company dying.

[–] sbv@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

catch-all for companies doing something they don’t like.

Yes.

But it screws up entire markets:

new platforms offer useful products and services at a loss, as a way to gain new users. Once users are locked in, the platform then offers access to the userbase to suppliers at a loss, and once suppliers are locked-in, the platform shifts surpluses to shareholders.

So, it

gives users a warped sense of what they deserve by giving away a costly service, and running competitors out of business.
Then it puts a stranglehold on suppliers by holding users hostage.
Then it fucks everybody by extracting value for shareholders.

[–] Gladaed@feddit.de -1 points 1 year ago

By this metric youtube is not enshittification to some extent. They are a household name and not some weenie startup.

It being ineffective is a necessary part of it, in my opinion.

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