Facebook was useful. Then it got worse. Then it got worse again.
Literal meaning: Enshittification is Cory Doctorow’s 2022 term for the predictable lifecycle of digital platforms: platforms begin by offering genuine value to users, then progressively degrade that value to extract more from users and businesses, as the platform gains sufficient market dominance to make exit costly.
Origin: Doctorow introduced the term in a January 2023 Wired essay, later expanded in The Internet Con (2023). He identified three stages: platforms first subsidise users (low prices, good service) to achieve scale; then they use that scale to extract value from business customers; then they use their dominance to extract value from users who are now locked in. Amazon, Google Search, Facebook, and TikTok are his primary examples.
The predictable decline of platforms — they start by serving users, then serve advertisers, then serve only themselves, extracting value until leaving is the only option.
The Appeal: The term was adopted instantly because it named something people had been experiencing without vocabulary for it. Google Search results filled with ads and SEO spam. Amazon listings cluttered with counterfeits. Facebook feeds algorithmed into engagement bait. The recognition was immediate.
The Friction: Doctorow’s argument is structural: enshittification is not a failure of individual companies — it is the predictable outcome of monopoly dynamics combined with Vendor Lock-in — private companies managing infrastructure with no viable exit. Dark Patterns are the specific tools used in the extraction phase: making cancellation difficult, hiding the quality content behind advertising, degrading the default experience while selling premium access. Brussels Effect — EU regulation as de facto global standard — is one structural counter: interoperability requirements would reduce lock-in and restore competition. Without that, enshittification is the destination of every successful platform.
Why This Matters: Enshittification is the term that explains why a platform you loved became one you tolerate. Once you know the lifecycle, the current state of any platform tells you where it is in the sequence — and what comes next.
Related terms: Vendor Lock-in · Dark Patterns · Recommender Systems · Brussels Effect · Surveillance Capitalism · Attention Economy · Cognitive Surrender · Deplatforming · Deskilling
Read more:
- The ‘Enshittification’ of TikTok — Doctorow, C. (2023). Wired
- The Internet Con — Doctorow, C. (2023). Verso Books