Enshittification
Etymology
A blunt neologism coined by the writer Cory Doctorow in 2022 (from a vulgar root plus the "-ification" of a process). It caught on because it named a pattern everyone recognized: first platforms are good to users, then they abuse users to please advertisers, then they abuse advertisers too — and finally they collapse.
noun · /en-shit-ih-fih-KAY-shun/
The gradual decline of a platform as it shifts value away from users toward business customers and then toward itself.
What it names
The lived experience of once-great apps getting worse — more ads, worse search, more friction — after they’ve locked you in.
Example
Search results buried under sponsored junk are the classic sign of enshittification setting in.
Related idea
Lock-in is the precondition — the decline only pays off once leaving is costly.