this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023
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This is the beginning of monetizing the app after they started collecting user data a few months back. The more aggressively they decide to monetize, the more aggressive they'll be about pushing promoted content. Remember when Instagram had no ads?
That's how this works. And they're certainly not going to choose to make less money off of their app over time with the market dominance that they have. Why would they when users will continue to use it?
How is this turning it into a data farm? It did that when it plundered your address book, and kept track of who you messaged when.
Sure, they will probably stay monetizing it a few years from now, but right now they aren't. Enshittification is a term with a very specific meaning, and it does not mean "features I don't like".
Is it? How do you define enshittification?
Because adding paid promotions to something that never had them is always the beginning "making things worse" -ificaton.
The rest of this story is very predictable following Meta's track record with social media. Everything will go to shit from a UX perspective now that they've decided to put ads in the app. That is how this works.
I don't. I use Doctorows definition.
If anything, if you prefer signal to WhatsApp (I do), you should be happy with its enshittification - because that means it's killing itself. But it's not, and it's already shit, and its users are okay with that.
It's basically a way to keep up with events you're already interested in (your favourite band, local soccer club, etc). You're complaining about an optional feature you don't want to use, that doesn't even exist yet, and misrepresent it as ads.
Yeah, no, I'm right. This is always how it starts, and these new Channels "partners" will definitely be a revenue stream in the future if they aren't already. Your view is naive.