Every time I try to use the web now to do anything useful I feel like George Costanza.

Is it the #enshittification or am I just getting old?

Here's my take on the #enshittification of internet technology over the 2010s, based on the word @pluralistic coined. I've added "developer enshittification" to the mix (see: React). https://cybercultural.com/p/enshittification/

However, I do end on a note of optimism: the decentralized web as represented by the fediverse, Mastodon and potentially Bluesky. "It's a new world for those who have chosen to leave the Enshittocene behind them. Won't you join us?"

And, they just announced subscriptions. Here comes the rent!

https://bsky.app/profile/bsky.app/post/3l7bifd4rwd2g (direct link to the sub subskeet) has a bunch of cheerleaders replying “take my money”, as if that will forestall the inevitable degradation of service, as if they weren’t secretly planning this business model shift all along, as if the VCs will just *disappear* if enough people pay $5 per month

that $15M VC investment is not a *loan*, it's a 100-to-1 *bet* on getting out with $1.5B, and they will squeeze and cheat and do whatever it takes to win that bet

it’s #enshittification stage 2: charge rent for full functionality, then add ads to the free tier

(first self-promos, then "offers" (demands) to buy subs, then “partners” (advertisers) including crypto scams from their new co-owners, and influencer-hustling pickaxe salesmen (the real profiteers of the gold rush))

then they'll add ads to the paid tiers too

that’s stage 3, right @pluralistic ? it’s hard to keep the stages straight since they’re all happening so quickly these days)

Currently watching this from @pluralistic -- https://youtu.be/4EmstuO0Em8 --Inspiring and horrifying in equal measure.

When you search for “mastodon” in the iPhone App Store, the top result is an ad for Truth Social