 "Enshittification is used for the decline of social media platforms. Representational Image/Pixabay")
Do you feel social media platforms are becoming less and less useful? If you pay attention, you might notice that you are more exposed to algorithm-driven content than posts from your friends when you are browsing these apps.
There is a term that captures this gradual decline of products or services – “enshittification”. This term is now an Australian dictionary’s word of the year.
Let’s take a closer look.
What ‘enshittification’ means
Australia’s quasi-official Macquarie Dictionary has announced “enshittification” as its 2024 Word of the Year.
The word is a noun. According to the dictionary, the term is defined as the “gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking”.
The word was picked by the dictionary’s committee of experts. Moreover, it was also voted People’s Choice Winner, reported AFP.
It is “a very basic Anglo-Saxon term wrapped in affixes which elevate it to being almost formal; almost respectable,” the committee said.
“This word captures what many of us feel is happening to the world and to so many aspects of our lives at the moment,” the panel added.
Notably, enshittification was the American Dialect Society’s word of the year in 2023.
Last year, Macquarie Dictionary’s word of the year was “cozzie livs”, a play on “cost of living”.
How ‘enshittification’ came to be
‘Enshittification’ was coined in 2022 by British-Canadian blogger and journalist Cory Doctorow to describe how digital platforms that were once invaluable have worsened over the years.
“All the streaming channels making you pay extra to not have ads is the perfect example,” Macquarie Dictionary managing editor Victoria Morgan said, as per Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
She said the word is typically used to refer to businesses seeking ways to make more money, but people are applying it to other aspects of life as well.
As per Newsweek, speaking about the decay of social media platforms that started as super useful but got worse as they chased profits, Doctorow said in a lecture, “We’re all living through the enshittocene”.
He also said that this decline was a three-stage process. “First, platforms are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves,” Doctorow wrote.
There is a general feeling among social media users that the apps are not what they used to be. Major platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram and Google, which used to cater to users have shifted focus to ad-heavy and algorithm-driven content.
One example that pops out is Twitter, which has become a plaything of billionaire Elon Musk since it became X.
On Instagram, you are more likely to be subjected to obscure algorithms than your friend’s pictures of another vacation.
Doctorow is, however, optimistic about the potential for reform. He suggests better regulation, increased competition, and more control over platforms for users. “Everyone has a stake in disenshittification,” he said, as per The Guardian.
According to Doctorow, big tech cannot be fixed but it can be destroyed.
He talks about a fourth stage in the decay of social media platforms: from being good to users to exploiting them for customers and then abusing their customers for their own benefit.
“Then they die,” he wrote.
Special mentions
Macquarie Dictionary’s Committee’s Choice gave special mention to the “right to disconnect” (RTD) and “ rawdogging ”.
The right to disconnect is a law that gives employees the right to ignore work calls or messages during non-work hours.
Rawdogging is when passengers travel on a long-haul flight without entertainment.
Enshittification beat “brainrot” to be selected by the People’s Choice. Brainrot means content believed to be of low quality in terms of intellectual stimulation.
The People’s Choice also gave an honourable mention to “social battery”, which describes how much energy a person has for social interactions.
Other dictionaries that have revealed their words of the year are: Collins Dictionary (“Brat”) and Cambridge Dictionary (“Manifest”).
With inputs from agencies