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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   31294 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 30, 2024

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Perhaps not morally wrong, but I do think it's the textbook definition of enshittifying. By making legitimate use directly more inconvenient and bad than illegitimate use, they're making chumps of their customers much more directly than you're made a chump by the self-checkout giving you the option to steal.

but I do think it's the textbook definition of enshittifying.

I guess I'm having trouble distinguishing the two internet memes here: what is enshittifying and how do you distinguish it from the Millenial Lifestyle Subsidy?

I didn't know what Millenial Lifestyle Subsidy was, but on looking it up it seems very different from what I see enshittifying is.

Enshittifying is when the same service becomes (subjectively of course) worse over time despite the company growing larger and the payment model not changing. More intrusive ads, algorithms changing the way search and front page works, things like that. MLS, from what I looked up, is the same service becoming more expensive, which is not the same thing.

They're the same in structure: startups lose money on early sales and expansion to build market share at the expense of established rivals, then focus on profitability once they have market share. Customers perceive the rise in prices as a betrayal, because they became used to the lower prices.

I'm not so sure that being the same in structure matters. People get used to prices getting higher easily, it's the economy and shit. What's harder to swallow is the product getting worse despite the very clear evidence that it is possible for it to not be (their memory of 1 year ago).

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