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https://theconversation.com/how-the-internet-became-enshittified-and-how-we-might-be-able-to-deshittify-it-269376>
"
Review: Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do
About It – Cory Doctorow (Verso)
Remember when Twitter used to be good? I reckon it peaked somewhere around the
first COVID lockdowns.
In those days, there was a running gag on the site where everyone would refer
to it as a “hellscape”. And it did invite some of the worst that humanity has
to offer. Opinions, as the old joke goes, are like assholes: everybody has one.
But if you curated your Twitter feed effectively, you could have immediate
scrolling access to the best journalism and cultural commentary, excellent
podcasts and comedians, film criticism and book reviews, the latest trends in
food, music or clothing, decent information about public health, live stream
feeds of smart people on the ground at the most pressing events of the day, not
to mention the wisecracks and insights of your friends.
It was like being perpetually part of an in-crowd. The promise of a world where
potentially anyone could feel connected, in touch, popular.
Then came the rumours that the increasingly fascist-curious Elon Musk was
scheming to buy the platform. Not possible, we thought at first. It would be a
terrible business decision. And anyone interesting or important would flee
overnight.
Then Musk did buy Twitter, horribly rebranding it as X. Then we speculated (or
hoped) it would drive him bankrupt. Then it didn’t. Then, through deliberate
and explicit effort, it went to shit."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
