The problem with Cory Doctorow’s term Enshittification is that it’s just too good. The word encapsulates so well so much of the digital world we live in, and even beyond that. In the UK we still sometimes describe Kafkaesque moments when butting up against intransigent bureaucracy as ‘Computer Says No’ moments, but I wonder how long before we describe that kind of experience in Doctorow’s terms.
To be clear, enshittification, as defined by Doctorow, is quite specific in describing digital platforms that have captured or created the ground between customer and other parties (be they suppliers, advertisers and so forth) such that both become customers of the platform itself. Once captured, the platform then proceeds to make itself indispensable to both, before amping up the attraction of the platform to other parties at the expense of the customer and then, once that has been achieved, doing the same for everyone connected with the platform, because, by now, everyone is locked into the platform and the switching cost of is just too high.
Amazon is perhaps the best example of replacing existing market places with itself, whilst Uber created a middleman, itself, and proceeded to undercut competitors to put them out of business before turning the screws on the drivers and customers themselves. So enshittification is quite specific, but it feels like it should be used elsewhere.
If you want to know more about this Doctorow’s book is excellent and can be bought HERE.
Virgin Media
Two recent examples spring to mind. I have kids and am constantly missing school emails and events as everyone uses email to just pass responsibility for things onwards. As such, I miss a lot of emails. But the other day I happen to catch one from my broadband supplier, Virgin Media. They emailed to give me notice that my 18 month contract was ending and that if I did nothing it didn’t matter because I would just be put onto their standard tariff. In line with what I assume is the law they told me what I was currently paying and what the new monthly rate would be. Are you sitting down? The increase was going to be 52%.
Naturally, or so it would seem, the UK does NOT require companies to tell you in communications like this how much notice I needed to give in order to cancel my contract. Whilst my bile was rising, I logged on to their site and found that it was 30 days. I checked the date of the end of the contract. It turns out they had given me 31 days notice. By this stage I wasn’t surprised, just very angry. I assume from what they did that they had to give over 30 days notice. And they had: 31.
I live in outer London and work from home, as does my partner and few days a week. So a decent broadband connection is very important. A quick panicked search (it was 4pm, the kids were back from school, but if I didn’t cancel this immediately it would be too late to cancel for another month) revealed that in the last 18 months, nothing had changed, Virgin Media was my only choice. But I would have to cancel anyway and try and find an alternative. Another article needed on why UK broadband market is clearly not working.
I called and spent ten minutes making it very clear that I needed to cancel, possibly more than ten minutes, as I got angrier and angrier and they offered me a 30% discount off the new price. I demurred and insisted on cancelling, to do this I needed to be put trough to another person who could cancel it for me (only after I had given all my details once more). In the end, another 25 minutes on the line and I was convinced to sign up for a 24 month contract for an almost 10% discount on the price I was currently paying.
This might not be enshittification, but it sure as hell is shit. I was still seething once I got off the phone even though I had saved almost 41% off the price they were going to charge. Their standard rate has no basis in reality, it’s that Loyalty Penalty writ large. Virgin Media, I’m sure, would claim that this isn’t a loyalty penalty, just bouncing onto the fixed rate. Yeah right.
So, Virgin Media’s approach to its customers might not be the textbook definition of enshittification, but it certainly ticks some of the boxes:
- it’s shit and unnecessary
- it’s monopolistic behaviour – it is the only fibre broadband provider I can use. I am trapped using its service, and Virgin Media knows that (I’m sure). The appalling broadband infrastructure in the UK means that whilst 250mb speed is the lowest tier that Virgin can supply, it’s about three times faster than anything else I could find.
Duolingo
I weaned myself off Duolingo about four months ago. If you haven’t used it, it’s brilliant at getting you to commit to a streak. Its gamification is second to none. As a former English Language Teacher I know that I wasn’t learning much Spanish, but I was improving my vocabulary, albeit slowly. But I needed a break, and we were going to Spain. I had a 400+ day streak and once I stopped, Duolingo spent the best part of a week telling me that it wasn’t too late to keep my streak.
Streaks work, as for the four months after breaking my streak I didn’t touch it. We are off to Spain again soon, so I got myself started on it again, and the experience has degraded markedly in the short time that I’ve been away. We’ve a paid family subscription which allows me plus 5 others to use Duolingo without the ads. For me, this is a Premium service, because I’m paying for it. But now I see there is Duolingo Max, requiring a steep cost upgrade for some more features. Fair enough. Was is not fair enough is the constant upselling… every third lesson is now an upsell opportunity, to remind me on what I’m missing out.
I’m not the first to point this out, and note that Trustpilot scores Duolingo extremely low. Duolingo has become focussed on the gamification and monetisation as the expense of its core offering, this is enshittification, even though Duolingo is an end in itself and not a platform. I do wonder, however, where it will go next in order to squeeze more from its userbase.