Enshittification: Difference between revisions

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===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 se, but it can completely lose 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 its new ownership and branding, the platform lost swathes of its ~~userbase~~ and advertisers to alternative platforms (such as Bluesky after its policy shifts proved widely unpopular).

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 se'', but it can completely lose 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 its new ownership and branding, the platform lost swathes of its user base and advertisers to alternative platforms (such as Bluesky after its policy shifts proved widely unpopular).

However, the death of an enshittified platform is not a particularly positive outcome. 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 they might not be able to support the massive influx of new users, at least for some 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.

However, the death of an enshittified platform is not a particularly positive outcome. It uproots a long-established user base and can greatly disrupt their activities. There is also the chance that alternative platforms lack feature parity with the old platform or that they might not be able to support the massive influx of new users, at least for some 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.

==Common signs==

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 ===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 se, but it can completely lose 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 its new ownership and branding, the platform lost swathes of its userbase and advertisers to alternative platforms (such as Bluesky after its policy shifts proved widely unpopular).
+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 se'', but it can completely lose 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 its new ownership and branding, the platform lost swathes of its user base and advertisers to alternative platforms (such as Bluesky after its policy shifts proved widely unpopular).
-However, the death of an enshittified platform is not a particularly positive outcome. 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 they might not be able to support the massive influx of new users, at least for some 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.
+However, the death of an enshittified platform is not a particularly positive outcome. It uproots a long-established user base and can greatly disrupt their activities. There is also the chance that alternative platforms lack feature parity with the old platform or that they might not be able to support the massive influx of new users, at least for some 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.
 ==Common signs==