Enshittification is a term coined by Cory Doctorow to describe a phenomenon where online platforms become less useful, less enjoyable, or less user-friendly over time. While it's not a formally defined term with clear criteria, it's often used to describe situations where platforms prioritize monetization, advertising, or other business interests over user experience. Typical enshittication phases include:
Phase 1: Good to Users - focus is on building a good user experience, often funded by venture capital.
Phase 2: Good to Business Customers - business customer experience and value becomes the focus, at the expense of user experience.
Phase 3: Extraction of Value for Shareholders - at the expense of user and business customer experience.
Here is a list of 200 platforms that have been affected by enshittification along with a brief description of how each platform has been impacted:
Amazon: Prioritized ads and fees over user experience, affecting both buyers and sellers.
Facebook: Shifted focus from user content to paid promotions, reducing organic reach.
Twitter/X: API restrictions and increased ads have degraded user experience.
TikTok: Rising ads and sponsored content disrupting user experience.
Google Search: Prioritized ads and paid placements over organic results.
Uber: Higher prices and lower driver pay diminishing service quality.
Airbnb: Increased fees and rise in commercial listings affecting affordability.
Etsy: Larger sellers and increased fees impacting small sellers.
Spotify: Ads and premium subscription emphasis reducing free service quality.
YouTube: Heavy monetization impacts small creators and viewer experience.
Instagram: Ad-heavy content reducing organic post visibility.
LinkedIn: Cluttered with promotions and premium subscriptions.
Pinterest: Paid content emphasis affecting organic discovery.
Snapchat: Increased ads and premium features reducing appeal.
Reddit: API charges shutting down third-party apps, frustrating users.
Audible: DRM restrictions making it hard for users to leave.
Bandcamp: Post-acquisition changes leading to staff layoffs.
Amazon Prime Video: Introduction of ads unless users pay extra.
Microsoft Teams: Complex and integrated paid features reducing usability.
Slack: Pricing changes and feature additions frustrating users.
WhatsApp: Monetization post-Facebook acquisition impacting privacy.
Netflix: Increased subscription costs and reduced content quality.
Apple App Store: In-app purchases and subscriptions over small developers.
eBay: Fixed-price listings and promoted content reducing diversity.
Twitch: Rising ads and monetization impacting streamers.
Steam: Heavy sales and promotions over quality user experience.
Microsoft Office 365: Subscription model with continuous upselling.
Adobe Creative Cloud: Subscription model leading to higher costs.
Dropbox: Increased pricing and reduced free features impacting users.
Hulu: Ads and premium subscription tiers impacting viewing experience.
Patreon: Increased fees and changes to creator payouts.
Substack: Monetization strategies impacting small creators.
OnlyFans: Policy changes and increased fees impacting creators.
Kickstarter: Increased fees and focus on high-revenue projects.
GoFundMe: Rising platform fees reducing effectiveness of campaigns.
Coursera: Monetization through certificates and degrees reducing free content.
Udemy: Increased focus on revenue through upselling affecting course quality.
Duolingo: Increased ads and premium subscription pushes impacting free user experience.
Headspace: Monetization through subscriptions affecting content accessibility.
Calm: Rising subscription costs and premium content focus reducing accessibility.
Peloton: Increased prices and focus on high-revenue products over user community causing dissatisfaction.
Fitbit: Subscription model for premium features reducing the value of devices.
Strava: Paywalling key features previously free, reducing user satisfaction.
Runkeeper: Subscription fees for advanced features impacting free users.
Zillow: Increased ads and promoted listings reducing search result quality.
Indeed: Monetization through sponsored job postings affecting organic job visibility.
Glassdoor: Heavy focus on premium services and ads reducing quality of free content.
Monster: Prioritizing paid job postings over organic search results impacting user experience.
TripAdvisor: Increased ads and sponsored content reducing review reliability.
Yelp: Monetization through promoted listings and ads impacting visibility of organic reviews.
Pandora: Introduction of more ads and premium subscriptions impacting free listening.
SoundCloud: Increased emphasis on monetization through ads and premium subscriptions reducing user satisfaction.
Myspace: Initial user-centric focus shifted to monetization, leading to decline.
Google Maps: Increased ads and promoted listings affecting search result quality.
Foursquare: Shifted from user experience to business-focused monetization strategies.
Yahoo: Initial strong focus on user content shifted to heavy monetization and ads.
AOL: Early internet pioneer that degraded through excessive monetization strategies.
Lyft: Similar to Uber, increased prices and reduced driver pay affecting service quality.
*DoorDash: Increased fees and focus on profitability affecting both users and couriers.
Grubhub: Rising fees and heavy ad focus reducing overall service quality.
Postmates: Similar to other food delivery services, monetization strategies impacting user satisfaction.
Instacart: Increased fees and prioritization of ads reducing service quality.
TaskRabbit: Monetization through fees and ads impacting user experience.
Fiverr: Heavy focus on monetization impacting small freelancers and buyers.
Upwork: Increased fees and focus on high-revenue projects reducing platform value.
Craigslist: Initial simplicity and user-centric focus overshadowed by monetization strategies.
Kijiji: Similar to Craigslist, monetization strategies impacting user experience.
Quora: Introduction of ads and monetization strategies affecting content quality.
Medium: Increased focus on premium content and subscriptions impacting free user experience.
WordPress: Monetization through premium features and ads impacting user satisfaction.
Tumblr: Monetization strategies post-acquisition reducing user satisfaction.
Blogger: Shifted focus towards ads and monetization.
Squarespace: Increased pricing and focus on premium subscriptions.
Weebly: Monetization through premium features impacting free user experience.
Wix: Introduction of more ads and premium subscriptions.
Shopify: Increased fees and focus on high-revenue merchants.
BigCommerce: Monetization strategies impacting small businesses.
Magento: Increased pricing and complexity.
WooCommerce: Monetization through premium extensions.
Ebay: Increased fees and focus on high-revenue sellers.
Alibaba: Monetization strategies impacting small merchants.
AliExpress: Introduction of more ads and fees.
Rakuten: Increased fees and focus on monetization.
Lazada: Increased focus on ads and fees reducing platform appeal.
Etsy: Increased fees and focus on larger sellers impacting small businesses.
Shopify: Increased fees and focus on larger merchants reducing small business value.
WordPress: Increased focus on premium features and ads impacting user satisfaction.
Flickr: Monetization through ads and premium subscriptions impacting free users.
Picasa: Shutting down free service and focusing on paid services.
Photobucket: Increased fees and ads impacting user experience.
Shutterfly: Increased monetization impacting free services.
Dropbox: Increased pricing and reduced free features.
Box: Monetization through premium features impacting user experience.
Google Drive: Increased focus on premium subscriptions.
OneDrive: Increased pricing and focus on monetization.
iCloud: Monetization through premium features impacting free users.
Mega: Increased pricing and focus on monetization.
MediaFire: Monetization through ads and premium subscriptions.
4Shared: Increased ads and monetization strategies.
WeTransfer: Monetization through premium features impacting free service.
Hulu: Ads and premium subscription tiers impacting viewing experience.
Netflix: Increased subscription costs and reduced content quality.
Disney+: Monetization through premium features and ads.
HBO Max: Increased pricing and focus on premium subscriptions.
Amazon Prime Video: Introduction of ads unless users pay extra.
Peacock: Monetization through premium features and ads.
Paramount+: Increased focus on premium subscriptions and ads.
Discovery+: Monetization through premium features impacting free content.
Apple TV+: Increased subscription costs and premium content focus.
Showtime: Monetization through ads and premium subscriptions.
Crunchyroll: Ads and premium subscriptions impacting user experience.
Funimation: Increased focus on monetization through premium features.
VRV: Monetization through premium subscriptions and ads.
Tubi: Increased ads and monetization strategies impacting free service.
Pluto TV: Monetization through ads impacting viewing experience.
Vudu: Increased focus on ads and premium features.
YouTube TV: Monetization through premium subscriptions and ads.
Sling TV: Increased pricing and focus on monetization.
FuboTV: Monetization through premium features and ads.
Philo: Increased focus on premium subscriptions impacting free content.
Apple Music: Increased subscription costs and premium content focus.
Spotify: Ads and premium subscription emphasis reducing free service quality.
Tidal: Monetization through premium features impacting free content.
Pandora: Introduction of more ads and premium subscriptions impacting free listening.
Amazon Music: Increased focus on premium subscriptions and ads.
SoundCloud: Increased emphasis on monetization through ads and premium subscriptions reducing user satisfaction.
YouTube Music: Monetization through premium features and ads.
Deezer: Increased ads and focus on premium subscriptions impacting free users.
iHeartRadio: Increased focus on premium subscriptions and ads impacting free content.
Google Play Music: Monetization through premium features impacting free users.
Napster: Increased ads and premium subscriptions impacting user experience.
Last.fm: Monetization through ads and premium features impacting free service.
Mixcloud: Increased focus on premium subscriptions and ads impacting user experience.
TuneIn: Monetization through premium features and ads impacting free listening.
Stitcher: Increased ads and premium subscriptions impacting user experience.
Overcast: Monetization through premium features impacting free users.
Pocket Casts: Increased focus on premium subscriptions and ads impacting free content.
Castbox: Monetization through premium features and ads impacting user experience.
Spotify Podcasts: Ads and premium subscription emphasis reducing free service quality.
Google Podcasts: Increased focus on monetization through premium features.
Apple Podcasts: Monetization through premium subscriptions and ads impacting user experience.
Anchor: Increased ads and focus on premium features impacting free service.
Breaker: Monetization through premium subscriptions impacting user experience.
Acast: Increased focus on ads and premium features impacting free content.
Luminary: Monetization through premium subscriptions impacting free users.
Audible: DRM restrictions making it hard for users to leave.
Bandcamp: Post-acquisition changes leading to staff layoffs.
Goodreads: Increased focus on ads and premium features impacting user experience.
LibraryThing: Monetization through premium features impacting free service.
BookBub: Increased ads and focus on premium features impacting free content.
Wattpad: Monetization through premium subscriptions and ads impacting user experience.
Medium: Increased focus on premium content and subscriptions impacting free user experience.
Substack: Monetization strategies impacting small creators and their audiences.
WordPress: Monetization through premium features and ads impacting user satisfaction.
Ghost: Increased focus on premium subscriptions impacting free content.
Tumblr: Monetization strategies post-acquisition reducing user satisfaction.
Blogger: Shifted focus towards ads and monetization.
Squarespace: Increased pricing and focus on premium subscriptions.
Weebly: Monetization through premium features impacting free user experience.
Wix: Introduction of more ads and premium subscriptions.
Shopify: Increased fees and focus on high-revenue merchants reducing small business value.
BigCommerce: Monetization strategies impacting small businesses.
Magento: Increased pricing and complexity.
WooCommerce: Monetization through premium extensions.
Etsy: Increased fees and focus on larger sellers impacting small businesses.
Alibaba: Monetization strategies impacting small merchants.
AliExpress: Introduction of more ads and fees.
Rakuten: Increased fees and focus on monetization.
Lazada: Increased focus on ads and fees reducing platform appeal.
Walmart Marketplace: Monetization through ads and premium features.
Newegg: Increased ads and focus on premium features impacting user experience.
eBay: Increased fees and focus on high-revenue sellers.
Craigslist: Monetization strategies impacting user experience.
OfferUp: Increased ads and focus on premium features impacting user experience.
Letgo: Monetization strategies post-merger impacting user satisfaction.
Facebook Marketplace: Increased ads and focus on monetization impacting user experience.
Gumtree: Monetization through premium features and ads impacting user experience.
Mercari: Increased focus on ads and premium features impacting user experience.
Poshmark: Monetization through premium features impacting user satisfaction.
ThredUp: Increased ads and focus on premium features impacting user experience.
Depop: Monetization strategies impacting user satisfaction.
Tradesy: Increased focus on ads and premium features impacting user experience.
Grailed: Monetization through premium features impacting user experience.
StockX: Increased focus on ads and premium features impacting user experience.
GOAT: Monetization strategies impacting user satisfaction.
The RealReal: Increased ads and focus on premium features impacting user experience.
Vestiaire Collective: Monetization through premium features impacting user satisfaction.
Threadflip: Increased focus on ads and premium features impacting user experience.
Reverb: Monetization through premium features impacting user satisfaction.
Discogs: Increased ads and focus on premium features impacting user experience.
SoundCloud: Increased emphasis on monetization through ads and premium subscriptions reducing user satisfaction.
Venmo: Increased fees for instant transfers and more emphasis on monetization strategies.
PayPal: Introduction of more fees and a focus on monetizing user transactions.
Cash App: Increased fees for instant transfers and monetization through Bitcoin and stocks.
Zelle: Monetization through partnerships with banks leading to reduced service quality.
Square: Increased fees for transactions and focus on premium services.
Stripe: Introduction of more fees and emphasis on premium services.
Apple Pay: Monetization through transaction fees and premium features.
Google Pay: Increased focus on monetization and transaction fees.
Samsung Pay: Introduction of more fees and premium features.
Facebook Messenger: Monetization through ads and premium features impacting user experience.
WhatsApp: Monetization strategies impacting user privacy and experience post-Facebook acquisition.
Telegram: Introduction of premium subscriptions impacting free user experience.
213. **Signal: Increased focus on monetization through premium features.
214. **Skype: Monetization through ads and premium features impacting free service.
Zoom: Increased pricing for premium features and focus on monetization.
Microsoft Teams: Complex and integrated paid features reducing usability.
Slack: Pricing changes and feature additions frustrating users.
Discord: Monetization through premium subscriptions and ads impacting user experience.
Clubhouse: Introduction of premium features and focus on monetization.
Twitter Spaces: Monetization through premium features impacting user experience.
These platforms illustrate the widespread impact of enshittification across various industries, highlighting the shift from user-centric approaches to profit-driven strategies that often degrade the overall user experience.
References
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/enshittification-part-1-why-every-platform-goes-bad
https://kottke.org/23/01/the-enshittification-lifecycle-of-online-platforms
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/business/explaining-enshittification/story
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification
https://craphound.com/enshittification/
https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us
https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/spaces
https://help.clubhouse.com/hc/en-us
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us