• 5 Posts
  • 185 Comments
Joined 3 months ago
cake
Cake day: March 1st, 2025

help-circle




  • I know Cory Doctorow (who coined the term) has said that he doesn’t mind if people use the term “enshittification” to simply mean “product gets worse”, but the definition he gave it specifically refers to anti-capitalistic practices (what he calls “technofeudalism”).

    “Enshittificiation” as described by Doctorow hurts businesses too. “Capitalism” definitionally implies the presence of a competitive market. “Enshittification” (like you said nothing new) describes what happens when a market is no longer competitive because it controlled by a single entity (monopoly). “Enshittification” happens when the government stops enforcing laws that protect free markets and allow capitalism to break down.

    Sorry for being a pedant but I see those words gets thrown around a lot in ways that IMO can muddle the meaning.