enshittification

American  

[en-shit-uh-fi-key-shuhn] / ˌɛnˌʃɪt ə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

Sometimes shittification

noun

1. the gradual degradation of an online platform or service's functionality, as part of a cycle in which the platform or service first offers benefits to users to attract them, then pursues more and more profits at the expense of users.

   There's been a significant enshittification of the website in just this year alone.

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Etymology

Origin of enshittification

Coined in 2022 by Canadian author Cory Doctorow (born 1971); en- ¹ ( def. ) + shit ( def. ) + -i- ( def. ) + -fication ( def. )

Example Sentences

The enshittification of the app is perhaps temporary, but, either way, it could spell the downfall of TikTok, the way so many social media platforms fell before it.

From Slate • Jan. 27, 2026

I spoke with Doctorow last week about the long history of enshittification, the bad legal and regulatory incentives that fueled its ubiquity, and why he still has hope the internet can be better.

From Slate • Oct. 13, 2025

One of the things that’s important about the enshittification hypothesis is that it posits a kind of class alignment between business customers and end users, between suppliers and consumers.

From Slate • Oct. 13, 2025

The whole screed reads like a lament of enshittification, without using the term or even nodding to Cory Doctorow’s theories.

From Slate • Feb. 11, 2025

But the underlying principle and characteristic trash-trail of enshittification are becoming just as applicable to geosynchronous and low Earth orbit as they are to Twitter and TikTok.

From Salon • Oct. 24, 2023