Today I learned a new word, "enshittification", from Cory Doctorow's "Tiktok's enshittification" <"https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys"> post. He wrote about Tiktok, Facebook and Twitter, and whilst I do not use Tiktok and I don't plan to in the future, I figured that the way he showed the enshittification of Facebook and Twitter needs to be highlighted, specially for the Philippine users (including government institutions, educational institutions, large corporations, you name it, almost all are reliant on these two) who need to wake up! FREE, as in "free beer" or at no monetary cost , is always attractive!
This is how a lot of online companies are amassing users, until they continue the enshittification process. The TL;DR of the process goes: first they attract users by their free services, then they attract businesses, then they hold them both hostage and profit off of it, then finally they become greedy and die. Doctorow mentioned Amazon, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Tiktok in his article, with hints about cryptocurrencies and Web3.0 - best to read it now, and then come back here. Amazon, Facebook, Google and Twitter are all at the tail-end of the enshittification process.
It is time to wake up and start recognizing this before you get dragged into the sewer! YOU can start ditching these services really. And no, there is no such a thing as free beer! There is always a cost involved, and the question is how are you paying for it. Anyway, let's take a look at Amazon first. In the Philippines, there are options, such as Lazada and Shopee (to name the biggest two), which, IMHO, uses the Amazon model as well.
Independent businesses either use these two, or they use Facebook and Instagram! Amazon now has free shipping to the Philippines for select items, too. These are not easy to leave behind without government intervention as the local, independent businesses are always at a disadvantage. The Buy Local campaign is simply not enough. Incentives for local, independent businesses are needed, but then again, am no business expert.
The other services, like Facebook, Google, Twitter, and ok, TikTok, are easier to leave behind. The key is to realize and accept that not everything that is provided for free are indeed free! I have written about these alternatives numerous times already, so I won't repeat them here. However, I need to remind you that there are better alternatives that are simply not free! Now back to Twitter. Twitter is going the way of Friendster - I mentioned Friendster as it was one of the most popular online services in the Philippines before Facebook and Twitter, and where is it now? Twitter wants to be Facebook - closing off access to only thru their websites and their own applications (removed third-party Twitter clients), prioritizes on adverts (they even provide FREE advertising credits for advertisers), better services and exposure for those who pay, and more.
If this continues, I am expecting Twitter to remove free, public access to tweets in the near future, so it can force users to their site to view content, just like Facebook. Yes, Twitter is the new Friendster - it is on the tail-end of the enshittification process, it is dying. It is time for you to move on.