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Features a prominent tech critic discussing a widely recognized trend affecting online services.
How Silicon Valley enshittified the internet
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Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
This episode of Decoder features an interview with Cory Doctorow, author of "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It." Host Sarah Jeong discusses Doctorow's concept of "enshittification," explaining how online platforms degrade user experience over time to extract more value, and explores potential solutions.
Online services, like social media or shopping sites, start good but get worse over time. This is called "enshittification." The episode explains why this happens and how we can fight it, so you can understand why your favorite sites might be frustrating.
This episode offers a critical perspective on the current state of the internet, explaining the "enshittification" phenomenon. It's for anyone frustrated with declining online services. While not directly about frontier AI labs, the discussion on platform decay and value extraction is relevant as these labs build the next generation of online services, potentially facing similar pressures or creating new forms of digital control.
- HostNilay Patel
- GuestCory Doctorowauthor, internet activist, tech critic
- Guest: Cory Doctorow
- Book Title: Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It
- Show: Decoder with Nilay Patel
- Length: 70 minutes
This is Sarah Jeong, features editor at The Verge. I’m standing in for Nilay for one final Thursday episode here as he settles back into full-time hosting duties. Today, we’ve got a fun one. I’m talking to Cory Doctorow, prolific author, internet activist, and arguably one of the fiercest tech critics writing today.
He has a new book out called Enshittifcation: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It. So I sat down with Cory to discuss what enshittification is, why it’s happening, and how we might fight it.
Links:
- Enshittification | Macmillan
- Why every website you used to love is getting worse | Vox
- The age of Enshittification | The New Yorker
- Yes, everything online sucks now — but it doesn’t have to | Ars Technica
- The enshittification of garage-door openers reveals vast, deadly rot | Cory Doctorow
- Mark Zuckerberg emails outline plan to neutralize competitors | The Verge
- Google gets to keep Chrome, judge rules in antitrust case | The Verge
- How Amazon wins: by steamrolling rivals and partners | WSJ
- A new web DRM standard has security researchers worried | The Verge
- Netflix, Microsoft & Google just changed how the web works | The Outline
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Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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- enshittification
- Cory Doctorow
- The process of online platforms getting worse for users over time.
45 minWhile loops with tool calls
WithJared Zoneraich
1 h 03Questions people ask
- What is enshittification?
- Enshittification is a term for how online platforms degrade user experience over time to extract more value, making everything worse for users.
- What can be done about enshittification?
- The episode discusses potential solutions and ways to fight against the ongoing degradation of online services.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to The Verge.