It's Been a Minute Why the internet sucks (and keeps getting worse)
11 snips
Oct 20, 2025 
Journalist and tech activist Cory Doctorow dives into the decline of the internet and introduces his concept of 'enshittification.' He explains how platforms like Facebook initially provide value before locking users in and then exploiting them. Doctorow discusses the impacts on publishers and advertisers, alongside the rise of techno-feudalism where companies extract rent. He advocates for antitrust measures to dismantle concentrated power and introduces the idea of a la carte platforms to empower users by allowing them to choose what they keep.
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Three-Step Platform Decline
- Platforms start by serving users well to attract them and create lock-in.
- Once users are locked in, firms prioritize business customers and extract value until the platform degrades.
Facebook As The Poster Child
- Cory Doctorow uses Facebook's origin story to show early promises about privacy and user benefit.
- He explains users then lock themselves into the network, raising switching costs and collective action problems.
Switching Costs Lock Users In
- Social networks create their own high switching costs because users rely on specific groups and connections.
- Collective action problems make coordinated departure nearly impossible, protecting platforms from competition.
