Peoples & Things Cory Doctorow on Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It
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Nov 17, 2025 
In this lively discussion, Cory Doctorow, a passionate writer and digital-rights advocate, joins danah boyd, a renowned researcher at Cornell, to delve into the concept of 'enshittification'—the phenomenon of digital platforms becoming worse over time. They explore how financialization and monopolies contribute to this decline, the impact of tech worker incentives, and viable alternatives like worker cooperatives. The conversation also touches on the alarming potential of generative AI and the shifting perceptions of tech careers among students. It's a thought-provoking exploration of our digital landscape!
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Three-Stage Platform Decay
- Platforms often start by serving users well, then lock them in, then extract value from businesses, producing widespread decline.
- Cory Doctorow calls this three-stage process "enshittification" and ties it to monopoly power and policy choices.
Lock-In Beats Dopamine Hacking
- Platform stickiness stems from network effects and locked-in relationships, not just attention hacking.
- Doctorow argues policy choices allowed monopolies to capture value and entrench extraction.
Policy Roots Of Monopoly Power
- Financialization and Chicago-school ideas enabled monopolies by treating shareholder value as supreme.
- These doctrines normalized rent extraction, tax avoidance, and corporate consolidation.
