"Enshittification" originally had a very specific definition:
First, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.
Nowadays it's just used as a catch-all for "made worse".
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"Enshittification" originally had a very specific definition:
Nowadays it's just used as a catch-all for "made worse".
Etsy fits Cory's original definition to a tee though.
Maybe, I'm not too familiar with their story. Who were the business users on Etsy?
- The users were the original arty-crafty people selling actually handmade products
- Businesses come in to exploit the users by flipping AliExpress crap at 10x margins, Etsy does nothing to stop this because $$$
- Etsy realizes they could make even more money off businesses by eg forcing them to buy ads from Etsy once their income exceeds $10k
- Now both users and businesses are pissed off and Etsy has entered a death spiral
The sellers. Doctorow's original article uses Amazon as an example; you could fit Etsy into the same framing.
This provides a good overview https://spy.com/articles/lifestyle/gifts/etsy-downfall-12030...
Please point me to the part where it talks about Etsy putting the users first, then the sellers, then Etsy itself.