A theory why the internet is going down the toilet

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A few years ago, Cory Doctorow coined a word that took the internet by storm. It appeared everywhere, including in our newsletter that analyzed why dating apps are breaking the hearts of their users . The American Dialect Society named it its word of the year in 2023. Merriam-Webster even added it to its dictionary — despite it having a swear word in it.

The word Doctorow coined is "enshittification." And, naturally, that's also the title of his new book .

Enshittification is more than just a catchy word, describing when companies turn to crap. For Doctorow, a long-time internet activist and journalist, it describes a specific process he sees in the evolution — or, really, the devolution — of internet platforms, li