Ep 255 - Enshittification: A Monopoly Story with Cory Doctorow

According to Wikipedia, “Enshittification, also known as platform decay, is the pattern of decreasing quality of online platforms that act as two-sided markets. Enshittification can be seen as a form of rent-seeking. Examples of alleged enshittification have included Amazon, Bandcamp, Facebook, Google Search, Quora, Reddit, and Twitter.” Wikipedia also tells us the term was coined by today’s guest Cory Doctorow.

Steve and Cory discuss his new fiction book, The Lost Cause, which explores truth and reconciliation in a polarized future and then delve into his nonfiction work, particularly The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation, which focuses on the power and abuses of major corporations, especially in the tech industry. They talk about the concept of "platform decay" (enshittification) and how platforms have become the dominant life form on the internet.

Cory explains another term, "acidification," which describes the pathology of this decay and the inevitable outcome when platforms are not regulated. He uses Facebook as a case study to illustrate how platforms lock in users, withdraw surplus from them, and then squeeze them for profit. He discusses the lack of competition, regulation, labor power, and user agency in the tech industry, leading to the current state of affairs.

They also touch on the importance of adversarial interoperability and the need to destroy big tech rather than trying to fix or tame it. The conversation highlights the urgent need for change and the importance of hope in creating a better future.

Cory believes that in times of crisis, ideas can move from the periphery to the center and become the basis for change.

Cory Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, science fiction author and blog editor. He is an activist in favor of liberalizing copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of its licenses for his books. Some common themes of his work include digital rights management, file sharing, and post-scarcity economics. Craphound.com

@doctorow on Twitter