Even if the Term for It is Funny, the Degradation of Modern Services Isn’t

If you’ve ever looked at your phone—or your laptop, or whatever allegedly “smart” device you happened to be using—and wished that things were how they used to be, you certainly aren’t alone. You aren’t imagining things, either… this perception of the products and services we rely on getting worse over time is widespread enough to have its own term, which has expanded beyond its social media-specific origins to all technologies, regardless of whether it's hardware or software. This term was actually named to be 2023’s Word of the Year (per the American Dialect Society), beating “AI” in relevance.

That word? Enshittification, as coined by tech critic and author Cory Doctorow. Let’s explore the concept and what it inevitably leads to.

How Enshittification Happens

As Doctorow explains it, enshittificatrion began as a way to sum up how platforms degrade in quality. He breaks the process into three parts, based on how the technology’s priorities lie.

First, Be Good to Your Users

This is the stage where a technology needs to attract and enrapture its user base, encouraging extreme benefit for the end user. Just consider how awesome the following were when they first came out:

• Facebook
• Alexa
• Google
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Twitter
• Netflix

Each and every one of these devices, services, and offerings started off sharing a few key elements. As a rule, they were generally simple and clean, with clear utility. As a result, users buy in and embrace them, integrating their use into their daily lives.

Next, Be Good to Businesses

Once users are captured, it's time to get businesses on board and dependent on these platforms. Features that help businesses are put in place. Sponsored posts and advertisements take over feeds, and users see the features they were used to rolled back and sunset as their costs rise.

We also have to mention that end users’ data is often sold to these businesses to improve their marketing, adding to the business' benefits and the users' expense. 

Third, Be Good to Your Shareholders

Finally, once businesses are as reliant on the platform, the focus can turn to its shareholders. This is the final stage of enshittification, where all the promises are only partially met (if at all). Any benefits from then on are redirected to the people who invested in the platform.

Business Tech is Far from Immune

There are plenty of examples of business-focused technology that experience this fairly regularly. Here are three.

SaaS

Software as a Service undoubtedly offers many benefits to businesses—that much is undeniable—but pay-as-you-go services are certainly not immune to the impact of enshittification. If prices start to rise with no added (or even depleting) value to you, or features that were once included suddenly require extra fees or higher subscription tiers, you’re witnessing enshittification firsthand.

Hardware Obsolescence

We’ve all seen technologies and styles come and go. Most of us have likely also seen countless examples of vintage technologies that still work today. The same certainly can’t be said of any tech your business purchases. The modern recommendation is to cycle through technology every three-to-five years or so for your security, but it is important to recognize that many IT staples are designed with strict restrictions to lock you into an ecosystem. Take printers: they now need subscription-based firmware updates and proprietary ink cartridges to work… and once these updates and cartridges are no longer provided, you’re forced to upgrade. 

Compatibility Loss

Once upon a time, technology was more or less compatible, even if you selected options from various providers. Now, however, all-inclusive platforms have trapped users in bundled subscriptions that wall off any external options—at the very least making them as inconvenient as possible. If a tool that worked well with another before an update suddenly stops working or forces the user to take extra steps, you’ve seen one of the most frustrating examples of enshittification in action.

Enshittification Needs to Be Stopped

Let’s face facts: this pattern is ultimately harmful to you and your business, as it means the tools you rely on will become less and less reliable. If nothing else, it will take your business longer to complete the tasks, time you could spend on something else, and generate more profits.

It also needs to be said that the quiet part of enshittification is the impact on a technology’s security and support. So, not only does the user experience get worse, but it also becomes a greater active risk to use.

Finally, enshittification is usually permanent, as in there is no going back to the quality of service there was before. If anything, it will most likely keep getting worse… something your time and budget cannot tolerate.

Enshittification is just bad, so it is important that you don’t tolerate it and seek out an alternative provider whenever you can.

We Can Help You Minimize Your Experience with Enshittification

Phoenix Metro area businesses deserve better, and we’re here to help you get it. We’ll work with you to ensure your organization has the right tools for its needs.

When it comes to avoiding enshittification, we do our best to find reliable providers who offer consistent support. While enshittification is admittedly extremely pervasive, we try to find the rose amongst the thorns. Our consulting services are based on the idea that your IT works for you as efficiently as it can in every way—from your operations to your budget.

Plus, we actively watch out for any signs of creeping degradation and proactively plan an alternative for you, keeping you one step ahead of enshittification.

Business IT—and technology in general—is made to make life easier for you. Don’t accept less than what you started with. Turn to us for help making the switch by giving us a call at (480) 212-5153.