💩 Platforms Keep Enshittifying. Can We Not?

Let’s talk about a deeply technical term coined by Cory Doctorow: enshittification.

It describes the life cycle of most modern platforms:

1. Be great to users.
2. Start squeezing users a bit to please the “real” customers — advertisers or business clients.
3. Then squeeze those customers to extract even more value.
4. Collapse in a sad puddle of dark patterns, irrelevant search results, and “oops, we sold your data.”

If you’ve used the internet in the last ten years, you’ve felt this happen.
Amazon. Google Search. Social platforms. Even that one browser that promised to protect your privacy — yeah, that one too.

So… why does this keep happening?

Well, here’s my theory: it’s a monopoly problem wearing growth-hacking sunglasses.

Most of these platforms used unsustainable tactics to dominate early:

• They burned money to get users (hello, underpriced everything).
• They lured in creators and businesses with sweet deals.
• Then they locked in those users, crushed the competition, and raised the tolls at every digital bridge.

It’s growth-at-any-cost. It works — until it doesn’t.
Because you can’t build a long-term, trusted ecosystem on short-term exploitation. That’s the enshittification trap.

Is there a way out?

I think so. But it requires real commitment to sustainability — not just in code or energy use, but in values. Here’s what I’m experimenting with:

1. Never betray your users.

If your business model involves slowly turning on the very people who trust you… maybe it’s time to rethink the model.
A user-respecting service can be profitable — just maybe not at unicorn scale. (And that’s okay.)

2. Build platforms that are okay with dying heroes.

Instead of desperately hanging on forever, what if we treated platforms like products with lifespans?
When their time is up, let them go out with dignity — not riddled with popups and “sponsored results”.

3. Price it properly. From Day One.

“Free” platforms often cost the most — just not with money. If you plan to monetize via shady data deals or manipulative algorithms later, you’re laying the foundation for enshittification now.

Charge money. Be transparent. Respect value. No one wants to be the product anymore.

4. Build what your grandma would admire.

This is my North Star. I want to create things that my family, my customers, and my team can point to and say: “That’s actually pretty great.”

It’s not just about principles — it’s also about talent. Talented people want to build things that matter, not optimize banner ads.

So what’s next?

I’m building Admire App a privacy-respecting, reasonably-priced “superapp” that puts users first — even if that means fewer VC-friendly buzzwords.
It won’t be free, but it also won’t be built on a pile of your personal data and dark UX tricks.
And hopefully, it’ll be something you, your family, and your future collaborators would admire.

Want to help steer it away from the cliff?
Come build, brainstorm, or rage against enshittification with me.

👉 Reach out here. Let’s not ruin the internet again.