Nonfiction

Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It

Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It

  • Downloads：6220
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2025-08-19 10:20:29
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Cory Doctorow
  • ISBN：0374619328
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
  • Download

Summary

Explaining the process of the “enshittification” of digital platforms over time and what to do about it。

Cory Doctorow's Enshittification takes a witty yet incisive look at the tech landscape， where platforms like TikTok， Facebook， and Google start off great—before they inevitably turn terrible。 In this contemporary moment of digital decline， Doctorow explores how tech giants lure users in with convenience and then degrade their services over time， squeezing profit at the cost of user experience。 With a mix of sharp humor and deep insight， he unveils the slow creep of "enshittification，" turning the online world into a worse place， one algorithm at a time。

Download

Reviews

mary ，

Why is everything going downhill nowadays？ Why are big companies 'squeezing' their users for every ounce of profit？ Why can't I leave social media？ Lucky for you， Cory Doctorow has the answer to all these questions in his new book！ Dotorow does a fantastic job at explaining why this is this case， i。e。 why does everything suck， why this doesn't have to be the case and finally， what should you do about it。 I felt a little bit hopeless reading this book （while the book is quite amusing， the sta Why is everything going downhill nowadays？ Why are big companies 'squeezing' their users for every ounce of profit？ Why can't I leave social media？ Lucky for you， Cory Doctorow has the answer to all these questions in his new book！ Dotorow does a fantastic job at explaining why this is this case， i。e。 why does everything suck， why this doesn't have to be the case and finally， what should you do about it。 I felt a little bit hopeless reading this book （while the book is quite amusing， the state of things the book concerns is a bit miserable and sad） but it definitely enlightened me in multiple ways。After reading this book， I definitely look at big tech companies in a different lens。。。 I recommend this book to anyone and everyone wanting to know why the "good ol' internet" just doesn't exist anymore。 Thank you to NetGalley， and the publisher， Farrar， Straus and Giroux for this eARC in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more

Jamie Barringer （Ravenmount） ，

While the advice section- the what we can do to reverse the enshittification of our technology - is very heavily policy oriented and probably not all that helpful for most readers who might otherwise be interested in this book， the rest of it is great。 I got to read this e-arc on a rickety Netgalley reader， an app within their site， because the annoying and barely adequate work-around to make the Netgalley files work on a Chromebook using some variation on an Adobe product suddenly no longer wor While the advice section- the what we can do to reverse the enshittification of our technology - is very heavily policy oriented and probably not all that helpful for most readers who might otherwise be interested in this book， the rest of it is great。 I got to read this e-arc on a rickety Netgalley reader， an app within their site， because the annoying and barely adequate work-around to make the Netgalley files work on a Chromebook using some variation on an Adobe product suddenly no longer works with whatever new formatting accompanied the changes that made the new reader app an option。 I have been reading arcs off and on for many years now， and it is almost funny and really sad how hard it is for modern companies to put timed e-arc files into arc-readers' virtual hands in a simple， easy to use format that actually works。 Having to reload the page every few hours does not count as 'easy to use'。 So， this was a perfect book to be reading while grumbling over the tech changes to reading Netgalley arcs， and of course I am reading and posting feedback using a crappy computer， only a few years old， but with one of those stupid batteries in it that expands after a while， just like the one in the computer before this one actually， so the companies involved in making Chromebooks either cannot figure out how to make computers with batteries that don't expand and threaten to crack their computer's casing after a year or so， or they don't see that issue as a problem worth fixing。 And of course， we have a nifty new internet service， using modern tech， that almost brings our internet to a speed and reliability equal to what it seems like we had ten years ago。 Ok， maybe on a good day the speed is better， but only on a good day。 Surely modern technology should be far better than this。 Doctorow's book explains pretty convincingly what is going on， and that yes， our tech could be， and should be better， but is not because companies benefit from not providing better services and products。 I was disappointed that the last section really was more abstract and policy oriented， so that aside from joining a union and maybe making use of any laws that get passed to fix your own tech devices， it is hard to come out of this book with much of a game plan for what to do about any of this。 The book also gets a bit repetitive， again especially noticeable in the last third of the book， so perhaps this last section was really not as inspired as the rest。 Still， overall this is a good book， and one I have been recommending to all my friends。 No doubt I'll be hearing about it from them once this book is published， and at least some of them can make more use of the politics and policy aspects of the last part， maybe。 。。。more

Dessi ，

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review！I wasn't familiar with Cory Doctorow's work， but I had heard of the concept of "enshittification" and， as someone who is old enough to remember what the internet was like， I jumped at the chance to understand how and why things had changed， and the thesis that we users *can* do something about it （well。。。）。 My impressions are those of someone who read this book and not any previous articles that the autho Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review！I wasn't familiar with Cory Doctorow's work， but I had heard of the concept of "enshittification" and， as someone who is old enough to remember what the internet was like， I jumped at the chance to understand how and why things had changed， and the thesis that we users *can* do something about it （well。。。）。 My impressions are those of someone who read this book and not any previous articles that the author might have based it on - if you have， maybe the book won't have anything new to tell you， I don't know。It presented the information in a very clear and accesible way for those of us with just a passing knowledge of tech， using concrete case studies and examples （which abound） and a writing style that felt friendly but not annoying。 The structure was fun， too: the author treats enshittification as a disease， so it's divided in four parts that explore its history， its pathology， its epidemiology， and its cure。Like Code Dependent: Living in the shadow of AI， reading this filled me with rage at the fact that a bunch of greedy millionaires with a fragile ego get to decide the worst ways to ruin our lives， our economies， our planet， and the very ways in which we take part of society in an endless pursuit of profit， aided by our own governments， which should be looking after *us*。While the final part （"The cure"） gave me some hope， it was mostly in a "this is all bound to fall apart eventually" way。 And there are governments doing something， to be sure， but。。。 there really isn't much that we， as users， can do。 Not to mention that the legislation that gets passed under the argument of doing something often ends up doing something worse， like the current thing the EU is doing of asking for facial recognition in order to "protect" users （the author doesn't mention this case specifically， but does talk about this issue， particularly when it comes to the EU）。I will also say that I learned many things that made me glad to be living in the Global South， because to some extent I am able to screw over so much of this bullshit when I'm not able to pay for any of these services anyway。 There were some things that made me want to ask my USAmerican friends if they're okay， because it's just。。。 how。 How。 do y'all live like that。 How does it get to a point where not only there are no free health care but also a company gets to rent out rooms and staff and charge you MORE？ Insane， despairing。As a final note， I did find the book quite repetitive in places， not in a reiterative way that was useful， but actually repeating the exact same thing in different places， so I hope it gets a final revision。 Other than that， I'd really recommend it to anyone interested in the topic。 。。。more

Lucia ，

I received an ARC of this from the publisher。 Joke's on you， I preordered his last two books！ Doctorow was the perfect person to write this book。 I mean， he did coin the term and all， but the symptoms of Enshittification have been a constant theme in his novels for years。 The story Unauthorized Bread in Radicalized is informed by printer makers forcing users to use proprietary， expensive cartridges in the real world。 Doctorow makes the case that Enshittification is not just another word for capi I received an ARC of this from the publisher。 Joke's on you， I preordered his last two books！ Doctorow was the perfect person to write this book。 I mean， he did coin the term and all， but the symptoms of Enshittification have been a constant theme in his novels for years。 The story Unauthorized Bread in Radicalized is informed by printer makers forcing users to use proprietary， expensive cartridges in the real world。 Doctorow makes the case that Enshittification is not just another word for capitalism， and while I'm still not entirely sure if I entirely agree or find that distinction meaningful， there's a great deal that I enjoyed about this book。In the first part， we have a few case studies， and he comes with *receipts*。 One thing that he brought up with twitter that really stuck out to me is that Twitter basically just used to be an API that anyone could build a client for before they enshittified it and completely locked it down。 In the earlier days of Twitter， one of my favorite ways to look at tweets wasn't on the website at all， but a Firefox extension！Another one of the case studies that resonated with me is Amazon。 It used to be an extremely convenient way to purchase nearly anything。 Now， it's an active struggle for both users and vendors - we users have an incredibly hard time finding what we want and are being steered to more expensive products， and vendors are not getting their items served to people looking for them unless they pay Amazon a bribe。 It's a far cry from the place that so many people， myself included， made our first stop for shopping because of the ease and price。 Amazon gets to reap the benefits of making it worse for everyone because who's going to compete？ In the second section of the book， Doctorow goes into the pathology for enshittification。 The Zero Interest Rate Policy that the United States underwent is discounted somewhat quickly here。 One could also kind of quibble as to whether ZIRP ended in 2022， or if it ended in 2015 and started again after the pandemic started。 Personally， I'm still inclined to think that ZIRP was important to set the stage for enshitiffication to take place， whereas Doctorow thinks that may just be *accelerating* it。 I do agree that it is just as much a labor， competition， and regulation issue as he makes his case about in the book。 That is a big reason I enjoyed reading this - when you're in the sphere of podcasts and blogs and forums that are discussing this phenomenon， the labor and competition components are frequently overlooked。 The third part is the "epidemiology"。 You're likely already familiar with the consequences of enshittification - in my case， I can't use a Firefox extension or any other third party client to look at Twitter anymore。 Uber gets to break labor laws and circumvented cab regulations worldwide because they did it with an app （for more on this， I'd recommend checking out Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber by Mike Isaac）。 You can't repair tractor because John Deere's computer said no。 You can maybe get your phone fixed now because of the lobbying work of activists for right to repair laws。 There are some more grisly examples that I've left out。 The last part is "The Cure" which is in part the least satisfying part of the book。 It's unclear how much the FTC is going to work its antitrust powers under Trump's regime， though there are some glimmers of hope as they've kept cases against Google going。 People are increasingly open to platforms that are at least somewhat decentralized （Mastodon has a decent following of users， though one might find it a lackluster replacement for Twitter。 Bluesky promises to be decentralized like Mastodon but isn't in a meaningful way yet。）。 The EU is putting into place regulations against platforms and going after big tech - except in cases where they're easing off it to dance with Trump's tariff demands。 There's kind of just a Trump-shaped problem at this end of the book， really。 There was a decent amount of momentum under Biden and now it's unclear where any of this is going to go。 It's a mixed bag for labor too - seems like there's never been more energy in the labor movement in recent memory， but membership is still declining。 On the whole， I recommend this book。 I certainly have my nitpicks， but the case studies are great and it helps establish how we got here and what might be our way through。 。。。more

Blake Baird ，

Thank you NetGalley， Farrar， Straus and Giroux， and most importantly Cory Doctorow for the eARC of Enshittification。I've been lover of Mr。 Doctorow's works for many years and was incredibly excited to read Enshittification and was not disappointed。 His expertise and intimate familiarity with the intersection of technology， sociology， and cultural evolution is clear and well-wedded with his signature wry wit and biting humor。 It's certainly not one of his fictional works - if you're looking for t Thank you NetGalley， Farrar， Straus and Giroux， and most importantly Cory Doctorow for the eARC of Enshittification。I've been lover of Mr。 Doctorow's works for many years and was incredibly excited to read Enshittification and was not disappointed。 His expertise and intimate familiarity with the intersection of technology， sociology， and cultural evolution is clear and well-wedded with his signature wry wit and biting humor。 It's certainly not one of his fictional works - if you're looking for that， don't bother - but if you want a tone and perspective that is clearly Doctorow and a biting analysis of the situation we find ourselves in as a society， give it a read。 。。。more

Tara McMullin ，

[ Disclaimer: This review is based on a digital galley and may not reflect changes that will be made before publication。 ]Overall， Doctorow's argument is spot on。 The book expands on his initial writing on enshittification and offers plenty of examples of the process in action。 Doctorow makes sense of the nagging frustration that today's tech—from social media， to artificial intelligence， to search， to commerce platforms—engenders。He also offers fairly concrete ideas for preventing enshittificat [ Disclaimer: This review is based on a digital galley and may not reflect changes that will be made before publication。 ]Overall， Doctorow's argument is spot on。 The book expands on his initial writing on enshittification and offers plenty of examples of the process in action。 Doctorow makes sense of the nagging frustration that today's tech—from social media， to artificial intelligence， to search， to commerce platforms—engenders。He also offers fairly concrete ideas for preventing enshittification on a policy level while fighting back on the judicial level。 Thinking about practical， if politically risky， solutions is one of Doctorow's strengths。As with many books in the "books based on blog posts" subgenre of criticism， this book has a lot of filler。 I have a pretty high tolerance for padding， but the wordy prose and constant references to previous pages got old。Finally， the book concludes on an odd note。 Doctorow references Audre Lorde and one of her most well-known quotes: "For the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house。" While he acknowledges that "Audre Lorde is far smarter than I am about nearly everything，" he goes on to say this idea is "manifestly wrong。" This is such an odd and unnecessary inclusion。 First， all of Doctorow's policy proposals can be put in the Not the Master's Tools bucket。 Second， what's the point of even including this paragraph？ It adds nothing to his conclusion aside from namedropping a Black lesbian feminist who would have faced brutal online harassment even on Doctorow's "old good internet，" no enshittification needed。Third， just a few paragraphs later， he quotes Martin Luther King， Jr。 as a way to set up his punchy ending。 This only serves to make the Lorde reference feel more tokenized than it already did。 Thus， the conclusion reads as though Doctorow got to the end of the book before realizing he should check some DEI boxes。This book offers an important framework for rethinking the tech industry and the policies we use to regulate it。 It's a shame it ended in such a weird place。 。。。more

James ，

In this important book， Doctorow explains how the Internet has become such a horrible place。 Digital platforms have followed a trajectory that lures users， then lures advertisers， then lures profits by degrading their experience over time。 The book provides detailed examples and ideas on how to fix it。 The book makes such a strong case that I've already seen the term "enshittification" show up in other places to describe the phenomenon。 Worthwhile reading。 In this important book， Doctorow explains how the Internet has become such a horrible place。 Digital platforms have followed a trajectory that lures users， then lures advertisers， then lures profits by degrading their experience over time。 The book provides detailed examples and ideas on how to fix it。 The book makes such a strong case that I've already seen the term "enshittification" show up in other places to describe the phenomenon。 Worthwhile reading。 。。。more

Andrew ，

A very unshitty book about the pile of mess the Big Tech has designed for us to use endure。 But also how to fight back。

Camisado ，

I've been following Cory Doctorow online for quite some time and read a lot of his fiction， so I was very excited and grateful to receive an ARC from Farrar， Straus and Giroux via NetGalley！This is a very important topic to me。 I also yearn for the days of “the old， good internet”， not to mention constantly watching aghast as social media companies and other platform owners squeeze every last penny and second of attention out of their end users， employees， business customers and advertisers。 I'v I've been following Cory Doctorow online for quite some time and read a lot of his fiction， so I was very excited and grateful to receive an ARC from Farrar， Straus and Giroux via NetGalley！This is a very important topic to me。 I also yearn for the days of “the old， good internet”， not to mention constantly watching aghast as social media companies and other platform owners squeeze every last penny and second of attention out of their end users， employees， business customers and advertisers。 I've seen a few other ARC reviews mention the snarky tone of the writing - I think actually it's exactly the right tone for this subject and we should all be at least as mad about it as Doctorow is。The history and explanations of each topic are really helpful， and most people who are comfortable using technology as a consumer will understand the implications and analogies。 I like the mix of very cautionary tales and the potential for hopefulness。 As a UK reader， it was great to have US policies and laws explained， and still have plenty of content about Europe and the UK included （plenty of big tech companies are headquartered in the US， but this is a global issue， after all）。As an avid blog/Mastodon follower， I've encountered portions of this book in blog posts before， but the familiar material is brilliantly tied together， cross-referenced， and expanded upon。Do yourself a favour and read this book and follow Cory's blog。 Get mad about enshittification。 Take your privacy and security seriously。 Start using decentralised services and pushing back on big tech while we wait for watchdogs and legislators to do their work。 。。。more

Dee （Delighting in the Desert） ，

4 stars - Please don’t let the cute cover fool you - this is a very serious book about how both the internet and our world got so crappy （see what I did there？） Using well-researched examples of different big corporations， the author clearly connects the capitalistic 💩 cycle - from initial excitement， functionality and innovation， to putting corporate & shareholder profit before end users and then business customers to total dysfunction and massive profits & soaring stocks。 Meta， Uber， Amazon， A 4 stars - Please don’t let the cute cover fool you - this is a very serious book about how both the internet and our world got so crappy （see what I did there？） Using well-researched examples of different big corporations， the author clearly connects the capitalistic 💩 cycle - from initial excitement， functionality and innovation， to putting corporate & shareholder profit before end users and then business customers to total dysfunction and massive profits & soaring stocks。 Meta， Uber， Amazon， Apple， streaming - they’re all here and they’re all very guilty of it。 Super interesting， timely and also an approachable read & glad I read it early from Net Galley - recommend it highly to those wondering why all companies are 💩 now。 。。。more

Patrick Pilz ，

Cory Doctorow as certainly a satirical and blunt way of speaking the truth about the way the internet turned out to be。 For the Generation which lived through the innocent beginnings， the first financial winter following the dotcom bust and the enshittifying bloom in the following spring， this is an eye opening， funny and at times sad account on the shift from digital altruism to full American capitalism。

Margaret Heller ，

Reviewed for Library Journal。

Venneh ，

Cory Doctorow launches into specific ways major social media companies have deliberately made their products shittier and the warped reasoning behind it。 He tries his best to give hope but unfortunately this was finished right around the time that Trump got elected and kind of sent any hope of government backed improvements down the toilet。 Doctorow will at least make you laugh as you realize the scale of the insanity and monopoly that tech companies have tried to wrangle。 If you don't like snar Cory Doctorow launches into specific ways major social media companies have deliberately made their products shittier and the warped reasoning behind it。 He tries his best to give hope but unfortunately this was finished right around the time that Trump got elected and kind of sent any hope of government backed improvements down the toilet。 Doctorow will at least make you laugh as you realize the scale of the insanity and monopoly that tech companies have tried to wrangle。 If you don't like snark， though， note that the tone might get old quick。 。。。more

Holly ，

Good information， I would have enjoyed more some infographics as the material is quite dry on its own。 The Advanced Review Copy （ARC） was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。

Gerry Gabel ，

Enlightening look at how some of the most influential platforms （Amazon， Mta， even Apple） have evolved from serving users， to serving businesses （those that pay to advertise and have access to data） to serving only their own bottom line。

Brendan Crowley ，

Interesting book。 I definitely agree with the broad theory and uts explained well and convincingly。 Clearly eyed and great at both diagnosing the problem and suggesting real potential solutions。 After a while the snarky tone got old but the writer is quite funny generally。 At times he speaks with an absolute certainty which risks invalidating arguments （e。g。 asserts his assumed reasons are the reasons for certain behaviour but correlation is not always causation）。 And gets repetitive towards the Interesting book。 I definitely agree with the broad theory and uts explained well and convincingly。 Clearly eyed and great at both diagnosing the problem and suggesting real potential solutions。 After a while the snarky tone got old but the writer is quite funny generally。 At times he speaks with an absolute certainty which risks invalidating arguments （e。g。 asserts his assumed reasons are the reasons for certain behaviour but correlation is not always causation）。 And gets repetitive towards the end - hence 4 not 5 stars。 。。。more

Iza Cupial ，

dope

Tag

    enshittification why everything suddenly got worse and what to do about it enshittification why everything suddenly got worse and what to do about it pdf

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0