Ways to Change the World with Krishnan Guru-Murthy 'Enshitification' and how big tech is making the internet worse for everyone - Cory Doctorow
Dec 5, 2025
In this discussion, Cory Doctorow, an author and digital-rights activist, dives into his book 'Enshitification.' He defines a three-stage process where platforms trap users and prioritize shareholder profits, leading to a decline in service quality. Cory critiques giants like Facebook and Amazon, revealing how they've shifted strategies for immediate gains at the cost of long-term value. He emphasizes the need for political activism over consumer responses and advocates for legal changes to break monopolies. The conversation highlights hopeful paths to reform the internet landscape.
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Three-Stage Platform Decay
- Doctorow defines "enshittification" as a three-stage decay where platforms lock users, onboard business customers, then extract all remaining value.
- The end state leaves minimal value to keep everyone captive while harvesting profits for shareholders and executives.
How Facebook Lured Users From MySpace
- Doctorow recounts Facebook's early pitch that it was a normal alternative to MySpace, promising better privacy to lure users.
- That social lock-in exploited collective action problems, keeping people attached to friends despite platform failings.
Users Become Leverage For Ads
- Once users are captive, platforms prioritize advertisers and publishers, degrading user experience to maximize ad revenue.
- Businesses become dependent on the platform and are later squeezed as the platform reduces value to the minimum needed to retain them.
