Phil’s review of Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It > Likes and Comments
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I've observed this phenomenon for a long time and am glad someone has finally acknowledged it.
Nice Charles! I put off joining GR because I knew it was owned by Amazon. Still glad I joined, but yeah, more and more commodified for sure. Amazon puts so little into this platform and extracts our reviews for display on Amazon.
Scott. I completely agree. Doctorow explains the phenomena so well! I highly recommend this to anyone who has witnessed the enshittification of social media and other things. I joined facebook pretty early, when you still needed and .edu address. I think I dropped it around 2010 as it just kept getting shittier.
Phil wrote: "Nice Charles! I put off joining GR because I knew it was owned by Amazon. Still glad I joined, but yeah, more and more commodified for sure. Amazon puts so little into this platform and extracts ou..."
I've tried other "Reader" Platforms. The new ones, still in Stage I are somewhat better. They're, more attentive and have more modern software. However, GR has, as Doctorow mentions with FaceBook, the "lock in" on its larger base.
After all, Philly, this is where you are!
Yup, you see the enshittification practically everywhere. To me it was with airlines, then doctors' offices, then customer service platforms, then in the various corporations I've worked for. All starting around 2001. All this before even touching the technology platforms we use. And I see it on GR too. I dumped Facebook, Twitter and don't miss them. I try to keep in mind that GR has introduced me to really cool people (my GR friends) who've expanded my horizons, my love of books and of people who still read. But the billionaires (we all know who they are, unfortunately) who run everything unfailingly ruin everything they touch. I'm interested in reading this book. I can always use some glimmer of optimism.
Superb review! Thank you. I’ve read some of his short stories, and love his writing style.
He appeared on The Daily Show recently. Great interview.
I hear you Kurt. I dumped Facebook and the rest years ago; GR is the only social media I still use, because, just as you say, I've meet some great people here, I love to read, and love meeting others that do also.
Doctorow does give one hope; the last few chapters are very optimistic!!
Thanks Basia! I will check him out on The Daily Show; should be fun. I am familiar with Doctorow's activism via EFF and have been for years, but never read a book of his before.
Phil wrote: "I am familiar with Doctorow's activism via EFF and have been for years, but never read a book of his before."
I really liked Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town.
Phil wrote: "Thanks Scott! I will check it out."
That new cover is another example of enshittification...
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I've observed this phenomenon for a long time and am glad someone has finally acknowledged it.
Nice Charles! I put off joining GR because I knew it was owned by Amazon. Still glad I joined, but yeah, more and more commodified for sure. Amazon puts so little into this platform and extracts our reviews for display on Amazon.
Scott. I completely agree. Doctorow explains the phenomena so well! I highly recommend this to anyone who has witnessed the enshittification of social media and other things. I joined facebook pretty early, when you still needed and .edu address. I think I dropped it around 2010 as it just kept getting shittier.
Phil wrote: "Nice Charles! I put off joining GR because I knew it was owned by Amazon. Still glad I joined, but yeah, more and more commodified for sure. Amazon puts so little into this platform and extracts ou..."I've tried other "Reader" Platforms. The new ones, still in Stage I are somewhat better. They're, more attentive and have more modern software. However, GR has, as Doctorow mentions with FaceBook, the "lock in" on its larger base.
After all, Philly, this is where you are!
Yup, you see the enshittification practically everywhere. To me it was with airlines, then doctors' offices, then customer service platforms, then in the various corporations I've worked for. All starting around 2001. All this before even touching the technology platforms we use. And I see it on GR too. I dumped Facebook, Twitter and don't miss them. I try to keep in mind that GR has introduced me to really cool people (my GR friends) who've expanded my horizons, my love of books and of people who still read. But the billionaires (we all know who they are, unfortunately) who run everything unfailingly ruin everything they touch. I'm interested in reading this book. I can always use some glimmer of optimism.
Superb review! Thank you. I’ve read some of his short stories, and love his writing style. He appeared on The Daily Show recently. Great interview.
I hear you Kurt. I dumped Facebook and the rest years ago; GR is the only social media I still use, because, just as you say, I've meet some great people here, I love to read, and love meeting others that do also. Doctorow does give one hope; the last few chapters are very optimistic!!
Thanks Basia! I will check him out on The Daily Show; should be fun. I am familiar with Doctorow's activism via EFF and have been for years, but never read a book of his before.
Phil wrote: "I am familiar with Doctorow's activism via EFF and have been for years, but never read a book of his before."I really liked Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town.
Phil wrote: "Thanks Scott! I will check it out."That new cover is another example of enshittification...
Goodreads has been owned by Amazon since 2013. They've put GR in a Stage III phase.
Stage I – before the acquisition, Goodreads operated largely as a free community with volunteers doing a lot of the site labor and users providing free IP (the site's product).
Stage II – after the takeover, Amazon began embedding “Buy Now! ( on Amazon)” buttons onto book pages, while displaying price, availability, and affiliate links. Those buttons send the clicks into Amazon’s retail platform.
Stage III – the clicks translate into Amazon sales, generating revenue for the parent while the GR user experience is now a commercial transaction.
How do the GR users feel? Longtime users view the Amazon takeover as a betrayal of the platform’s original brother/sister readers ethos, which reinforces the “giant pile of shit” sentiment.
The Amazon purchase was a solid Phase III move: the platform (GR) uses its user base to funnel traffic to its corporate owner (Amazon), while it sells their freely given IP to attract new customers and sedate their existing users into docility while extracting all the value for itself as the user community incrementally feels more and more commodified.