Enshittification

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What is enshittification?

The phenomenon of online platforms gradually degrading the quality of their services, often by promoting advertisements and sponsored content, in order to increase profits. (Cory Doctorow, 2022, extracted from Wikitionary) source

The lifecycle of Big Internet

We discuss how predatory big tech platforms live and die by luring people in and then decaying for profit.

Embrace, extend and extinguish

We also discuss how naturally open technologies like the Fediverse can be susceptible to corporate takeovers, rugpulls and subsequent enshittification.

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YouTube reportedly testing new homepage that removes dates and view counts (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Has YouTube experienced enshittification?

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[–] Furball 40 points 23 hours ago (4 children)

Why the fuck would they even think of doing that? Genuinely what is the purpose? How does it benefit them?

[–] [email protected] 32 points 22 hours ago

You might (rightly) skip videos many years old that are no longer relevant. Without the date info available to you, you won't know they contain out-of-date useless information, and might watch them (generating more views and ad revenue).

[–] [email protected] 20 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

The goal is to make you click and anything that could stop you is considered a problem. I'd say it's a short term strategy that will lead to long term failure but I'm not sure anymore. Tiktok and Instagram are feeding their users a bunch of trash too and it still works.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

Instagrams shows you the date and views/likes. Also 20 seconds cat videos or two minute talk video are vastly different to 10mins to 4 hours youtube videos. The time "lost" by wathcing the wrong thing is just very different.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 12 hours ago

20 seconds cat videos or two minute talk video are vastly different to 10mins to 4 hours youtube videos. The time “lost” by wathcing the wrong thing is just very different. I think it isn't uncommon for users to spend multiple hours per day watching those short clips only to realize most of it was mildly interesting at best and it's less likely someone sits through a 4h video they dont care about than someone watching 4h worth of a variety of short clips they don't really care for. Either way I think taking transparency/agency away from the user is terrible.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

How much time are people looking through the homepage instead of watching videos?

If youtubes goal was to make people only watch the begging of an episode, which has the most ads(i think, i havent seen an ad on youtube in a long time), why are they promoting videos that make people watch for longer?

[–] Hideakikarate 5 points 23 hours ago

You can't remember watching a video, so you watch it again and give them more ad revenue.

[–] can 0 points 23 hours ago

Same reason people choose not to show votes here? Bias? I never really look at beyond title and thumbnail anyway.