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Users, advertisers – we are all trapped in the enshittification of the internet | John Naughton
(www.theguardian.com)
The phenomenon of online platforms gradually degrading the quality of their services, often by promoting advertisements and sponsored content, in order to increase profits. (Cory Doctorow, 2022, extracted from Wikitionary) source
We discuss how predatory big tech platforms live and die by luring people in and then decaying for profit.
We also discuss how naturally open technologies like the Fediverse can be susceptible to corporate takeovers, rugpulls and subsequent enshittification.
Enshittification is a new word for the same monetary corruption we've experienced in every single aspect of our civilisation. The only things that remain unaffected by it are non profit projects. Take Wikipedia for example. It doesn't gain anything from showing you articles you don't want to see because it's financed through donations so it's just a useful collection of information. Imagine it had been built around advertisment. It'd be an absolute shitshow by now with click bait on every page. The only escape from it is to take profits put of the picture entirely. Built open source platforms that aren't and can't be owned by any one entity and run them without the goal to generate money.