Enshittification: Difference between revisions

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It can cause frustration among customers, for example Netflix has started locking down movies behind expensive plans, so customers are frustrated into subscribing to a more expensive plan.

~~===Adversarial business relationships===~~

Enshittification can also lead to [[wikipedia:Feature creep|feature creep]] - especially when new features of a product are intended to further lock in users and increase revenue. This creep can lead to an overall reduction in performance due to bloat and increase complexity, reducing a product's usability. A prime example of feature creep caused in large part by late-stage enshittification is Microsoft Windows.

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===Switching barriers===

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Enshittified platforms that act as intermediaries can act as both a monopoly on services and a monopsony on customers, as high switching barriers prevent either from leaving even when better alternatives technically exist. These barriers can be intentionally put in place - such as restricting the user's ability to transfer data or communicate between platforms - or unintentional, such as a platform's userbase being so large that it naturally makes it near impossible for users or partners to find equivalent engagement on an alternative platform.

An example of this would be a longtime eBay seller hoping to leave the site for an alternative with lower fees (possibly Mercari or Etsy). They might first encounter issues migrating all of their listings over to the new platform; a process which could be tedious. Their feedback history will certainly not carry over to the new platform so buyers are initially less likely to view them as trustworthy, potentially impacting sales. Lastly, the alternative platform likely has a vastly smaller userbase than eBay so despite all the possible benefits - the seller is less likely to be successful on the new platform than they are on eBay.

Such switching barriers can create an adversarial relationship between platform users or business partners and the company they're dependent on. The users or partners cannot be successful without access to the wide reach of the platform - but it leaves them wholly dependent on a company that no longer has their best interests in mind.

===Platform death===

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A potential end-scenario for enshittified platforms is death, usually caused by a large enough exodus of users and business partners, and a general loss of trust. A platform may not truly "die" per-say, but it's completely lost the identity that made it successful in the first place - and might not ever regain it. An ongoing example is [[X Corp|Twitter]] post-Elon Musk's takeover. Under it's new ownership and branding, the platform drove away swathes of it's userbase and advertisers to alternative platforms (such as Bluesky) after it's policy shifts proved widely unpopular.

However, the death of an enshittified platform is not an entirely positive end result. It uproots a long established userbase and can greatly disrupt their activities. There is also the chance that alternative platforms lack feature parity with the old platform or that it might not even be able to support the massive influx of new users - at least for some amount of time. At worst, data loss could be involved meaning years worth of information - if not archived beforehand - could potentially be lost if a platform shuts down in some capacity.

==Possible solutions==

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 It can cause frustration among customers, for example Netflix has started locking down movies behind expensive plans, so customers are frustrated into subscribing to a more expensive plan.
-===Adversarial business relationships===
+Enshittification can also lead to [[wikipedia:Feature creep|feature creep]] - especially when new features of a product are intended to further lock in users and increase revenue. This creep can lead to an overall reduction in performance due to bloat and increase complexity, reducing a product's usability. A prime example of feature creep caused in large part by late-stage enshittification is Microsoft Windows.
-...
 ===Switching barriers===
-...
+Enshittified platforms that act as intermediaries can act as both a monopoly on services and a monopsony on customers, as high switching barriers prevent either from leaving even when better alternatives technically exist. These barriers can be intentionally put in place - such as restricting the user's ability to transfer data or communicate between platforms - or unintentional, such as a platform's userbase being so large that it naturally makes it near impossible for users or partners to find equivalent engagement on an alternative platform.
+An example of this would be a longtime eBay seller hoping to leave the site for an alternative with lower fees (possibly Mercari or Etsy). They might first encounter issues migrating all of their listings over to the new platform; a process which could be tedious. Their feedback history will certainly not carry over to the new platform so buyers are initially less likely to view them as trustworthy, potentially impacting sales. Lastly, the alternative platform likely has a vastly smaller userbase than eBay so despite all the possible benefits - the seller is less likely to be successful on the new platform than they are on eBay.
+Such switching barriers can create an adversarial relationship between platform users or business partners and the company they're dependent on. The users or partners cannot be successful without access to the wide reach of the platform - but it leaves them wholly dependent on a company that no longer has their best interests in mind.
 ===Platform death===
-...
+A potential end-scenario for enshittified platforms is death, usually caused by a large enough exodus of users and business partners, and a general loss of trust. A platform may not truly "die" per-say, but it's completely lost the identity that made it successful in the first place - and might not ever regain it. An ongoing example is [[X Corp|Twitter]] post-Elon Musk's takeover. Under it's new ownership and branding, the platform drove away swathes of it's userbase and advertisers to alternative platforms (such as Bluesky) after it's policy shifts proved widely unpopular.
+However, the death of an enshittified platform is not an entirely positive end result. It uproots a long established userbase and can greatly disrupt their activities. There is also the chance that alternative platforms lack feature parity with the old platform or that it might not even be able to support the massive influx of new users - at least for some amount of time. At worst, data loss could be involved meaning years worth of information - if not archived beforehand - could potentially be lost if a platform shuts down in some capacity.
 ==Possible solutions==