This is how platforms end, not with a bang, but a poop…
On January 21st, Cory Doctorow posted a lengthy piece on his website called “Tiktok’s enshittification”. It’s not specifically about TikTok, but rather about a pattern of behavior that has affected, one by one, all platforms as they develop, as they go public, and as they come under increased pressure to generate revenue.
I read it that same day because I have subscribed to Cory’s updates since time immemorial, and I thought it was a very good article, especially because it was in tune not only with my views on the evolution of TikTok, but that it went much further: it applied the same reasoning to Amazon, Facebook and Twitter, reminding me of things I have experienced first hand, with people I know at companies like Yahoo! or Google, among others.
Since then, the article has been re-published in Wired, the term “enshittification” has become word of the week, and it has been commented by people like Mike Masnick or Jason Kottke. I have also recommended it in class and at conferences, and it has gone moderately viral, something unusual for an analytical article of that type and that length, but which is what it really deserves: the more people understand this aspect of human ambition and how companies that we once loved are now garbage and that we have no choice but to hate. So I thought it appropriate to use the…
