Platform decline: Enshittification: When digital services get worse
Many people may know this from experience: A previously useful digital service becomes worse, more expensive, or cluttered with advertising. There's a word for it: Enshittification. How do you deal with it?
The term "Enshittification" describes the gradual decline in quality of digital services, such as streaming platforms, language learning apps, and social media. Christine Steffen from the Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen explains that this phenomenon occurs when providers try to commercialize their services, often by increasing prices, adding excessive advertising, or making the service less user-friendly.
As a result, users may be forced to accept a deteriorating experience or switch to a paid version, even if they are not satisfied with the changes. Steffen advises consumers to be aware of this trend and consider alternatives or reporting problematic cases to consumer protection agencies.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
