this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2024
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Enshittification

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What is enshittification?

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

The lifecycle of Big Internet

We discuss how predatory big tech platforms live and die by luring people in and then decaying for profit.

Embrace, extend and extinguish

We also discuss how naturally open technologies like the Fediverse can be susceptible to corporate takeovers, rugpulls and subsequent enshittification.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I think people who expect things to be free AND convenient are either children or live in a fantasy world and have no idea how the world works.

Getting around an extension that circumvents YouTube's monetisation is not enshitification.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Getting around an extension that circumvents YouTube's monetisation is not enshitification.

YouTube: constantly makes the ad experience worse

Users: install AdBlock methods to dodge how terrible it's gotten

YouTube: continues making the ad experience worse

You, an intellectual: but it's not enshittification tho

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Can you maybe add 2 and 2 to get a 4?

Your "ad experience" being "worse", mwans that more ads are shown to you, so companies are more inclined to advertise, because their ad money is not wasted.

You either pay for premium or watch ads. You don't want to watch ads and you don't want to pay for premium. You're a free-loader leech and you're crying enshitification where there is none.

You get more ads so they can collect more money for ever-increasing server and content-creator costs.

Again, either a child or absolutely clueless.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You either pay for premium or watch ads.

Or you pay a premium and watch ads (ex. HBO Max, Netflix etc.), which is always the end goal for the goblins at these companies. Enough is never enough, that's the problem.

Companies can still make money without going overboard. If anything the reckless pursuit of maximizing profits at all costs is bad business practice if your goal is a sustainable company.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Slippery-slope nosense. We're talking specifically about YouTube here, let's stay on topic.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We pay with the data they are illegally harvesting.

Fuck youtube and fuck american companies, I will leech the fuck of it until they crumble.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What is data used for?
Is it... advertising, maybe?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not only that. Youtube ads yes but also google ads, resold to others companies, AI training, etc...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is about greed and excessive ads, not a complete unwillingness to admit that platforms need a form of income to run.

When platforms go too far, people pushback. That should be a sign for YT that their advertising strategies are unsustainable and they need to make them less offensive and dusruptive to users.

Not everything done to maximize profit is excusable. People are entitled to draw a line when greed goes too far.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can you show me how much profit Youtube had in 2023? You seem to know this, because you base your whole argument on it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

$31.5 billion in revenue in 2023. [Source]

This doesn't include subscriptions, which accpunt for around another $10-12 billion.

The company is worth hundreds of billions. So, no, I don't think they're suffering from ad blockers.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah yes, the good ol' revenue is just a synonym to profit. Classic.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah the ol' I have no real argument here and have no idea why I'm actually whiteknighting for a multibillion dollar corporation so I'll just act skeptical regardless of what's said.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Lol. Okay revenue=profit guy. You've said enough.