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

See Examples For:

enshittification

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

I wonder whether jailbreak culture has gone by the wayside, because of the overall strength of enshittification.

From Slate ● Oct. 13, 2025

Adobe forcing a software-subscription model so that artists have little control over necessary tools and find it prohibitively difficult to cancel any services—it’s all enshittification.

From Slate ● Oct. 13, 2025

Now that the company has tasted stock market riches, is it on the fast track to enshittification, that perfect neologism for the way profit maximization inevitably ruins everything good online?

From Slate ● Dec. 27, 2024

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