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Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow
@pluralistic@mamot.fr  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

I get email.

An email whose subject line is "enshittification" and whose body reads "Why did you choose such a fucking dumb word to describe such a brutally important concept? "
An email whose subject line is "enshittification" and whose body reads "Why did you choose such a fucking dumb word to describe such a brutally important concept? "
An email whose subject line is "enshittification" and whose body reads "Why did you choose such a fucking dumb word to describe such a brutally important concept? "
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Andrew Orr
Andrew Orr
@andrewornot@masto.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 8 minutes ago

@pluralistic Enshitiffication is a perfectly cromulent word

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Leander Lindahl
Leander Lindahl
@leanderlindahl@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 24 minutes ago

@pluralistic well, the word kept me from learning about the idea it represents for quite a while. It wasn't until the CCC conference video a month ago I listened to you (Cory) the first time and was immediately convinced of the relevance and importance of what you write and talk about.

I guess it sounded like some trendy buzz word (which to some extent is probably the intent – to lean on that mannerism) and I wasn't interested in trendy buzz.

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JR Rickerson :python:
JR Rickerson :python:
@jrrickerson@fosstodon.org replied  ·  activity timestamp 54 minutes ago

@pluralistic When I first heard the word:

- I immediately knew it was not corporate marketing jargon.
- I immediately knew it was something negative.
- I immediately knew it was something intense enough that I should probably be paying attention to it.
- I did NOT immediately know what it referred to, and as such wanted to understand it.

Seems like a pretty effective choice to me. 🤷

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Pat
Pat
@patrascan@ohai.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 1 hour ago

@pluralistic at first I thought the inclusion of "shit" detracted from the seriousness and intellectual vigor of the theory, but now I see where-- given the reception of general population and experts alike--this word does quite the opposite.

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jan guerillahandwerker ullrich
jan guerillahandwerker ullrich
@young_ullrich@norden.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 1 hour ago

@pluralistic
yeah why do you even choose words cory

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Pax Ahimsa Gethen
Pax Ahimsa Gethen
@funcrunch@me.dm replied  ·  activity timestamp 1 hour ago

@pluralistic

I remember reading and commenting on the essay where you first used the term #enshittification, on @medium back in November 2022. I doubt you or anyone else realized then how much it would catch on 🙂

https://doctorow.medium.com/social-quitting-1ce85b67b456

Also, happy to see another @thunderbird user. Sadly, Mozilla is becoming enshittified as well.

Medium

Social Quitting

Forthcoming in the January, 2023 issue of Locus Magazine.
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hal8999
hal8999
@hal8999@infosec.exchange replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 hours ago

@pluralistic It's the opposite of the 'enhance' trope, even existentially.

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Justin D-Z
Justin D-Z
@justindz@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 hours ago

@pluralistic "Transitioning from 'bite the hand that feeds' to 'bite every hand, all the time, don't stop biting'" is too many syllables.

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Ehay2k
Ehay2k
@Ehay2k@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 hours ago

@pluralistic

Did you reply "6 7" ?

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Samir Al-Battran
Samir Al-Battran
@samir@m.fedica.com replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 hours ago

@pluralistic
You should tell them it's a German word lol

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Seth of the Fediverse
Seth of the Fediverse
@phillycodehound@indieweb.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 3 hours ago

@pluralistic I like the term. I feel it fits.

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MasterLain
MasterLain
@BigGangForEvery1@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 3 hours ago

@pluralistic intended obsolescence is the older term for it. It's not a new idea, ppl just act brand new about every fucking thing

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Mx. Chara Aznable (they/them) of Pnictogen
Mx. Chara Aznable (they/them) of Pnictogen
@mxchara@seattle.pink replied  ·  activity timestamp 3 hours ago

@pluralistic Well, why did you choose such a silly word as your central selling point? I must confess that it's the rebuilding which intrigues me far more than the business of things falling apart.

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Scott Williams 🐧
Scott Williams 🐧
@vwbusguy@mastodon.online replied  ·  activity timestamp 3 hours ago

@pluralistic Hey there, fellow Thunderbird user!

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Pseudo Nym
Pseudo Nym
@pseudonym@mastodon.online replied  ·  activity timestamp 4 hours ago

@pluralistic

You are a writer. How dare you <checks notes> "choose words."

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Sky-haired Miranda 💙🐙
Sky-haired Miranda 💙🐙
@miranda_blue@eldritch.cafe replied  ·  activity timestamp 4 hours ago

@pluralistic funny to have someone angrily agree with you 😅

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UltrasonicMadness (he/him)
UltrasonicMadness (he/him)
@UltrasonicMadness@mastodon.me.uk replied  ·  activity timestamp 4 hours ago

@pluralistic I completely agree with the email. "Enshittification" is a term I would have come up at the age of 14 during a period of heightened teenage angst, while still trying to sound far more intelligent than I would have been. It is completely unsuited to a problem this serious and ubiquitous. What's wrong with "platform decay" as listed on the @wikipedia article?

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Clare Hooley
Clare Hooley
@clare_hooley@mastodon.me.uk replied  ·  activity timestamp 4 hours ago

@pluralistic must admit, I prefer to avoid the swear word in some contexts, but in those rare context I just go for platform decay. No big deal.

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Curious Badger
Curious Badger
@curiousbadger@mstdn.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 4 hours ago

@pluralistic didn't even spell it right.

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katzenberger
katzenberger
@katzenberger@tldr.nettime.org replied  ·  activity timestamp 4 hours ago

@pluralistic

"I got tired of waiting for your brilliant alternative. Just checked my spam folder, and it wasn't there, either."

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Netraven
Netraven
@Netraven@hear-me.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 5 hours ago

@pluralistic I'd reply (jokingly) with a message about how "well, it beat out corporate-auto-erotic-asphyxiation so I think enshittification is the lesser of two weevils"

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pgmota
pgmota
@pgmota@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 5 hours ago

@pluralistic I personally think it's prety good, reflects exactly that tech engineering, business strategy, unthinkable amount of money or/and the "best minds of the world that resides silicon valley" are doing nothing but shitty products. In Brazil we say merdificação or bostificação

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DeanC
DeanC
@DeanC@ecoevo.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 5 hours ago

@pluralistic I kind of like "Zerscheißigung" for the German version.

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M1ke
M1ke
@m1ke@phpc.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 5 hours ago

@pluralistic the other day my daughter asked me "daddy, are all words made up" and she's definitely wiser than this person

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Manuèle Ducret
Manuèle Ducret
@Filambulle@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 5 hours ago

@pluralistic I like that it is very translatable, at least in French.
We already had emmerder (verb), emmerdeur-se (noun for a person), emmerdant (adjectif) emmerdement (noun for an event) and now emmerdification (noun for a deliberate process) is the perfect addition to the family.
A very traditional and proper way to enrich our languages.

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McPoops
McPoops
@McPoops@jawnuffin.xyz replied  ·  activity timestamp 5 hours ago

@pluralistic personally, I love the word. It perfectly describes the situation and it catches attention so people don't just ignore it.

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Fee Fi Fo Fum :v_bi:
Fee Fi Fo Fum :v_bi:
@farah@beige.party replied  ·  activity timestamp 5 hours ago

@pluralistic They’re just jealous they didn’t come up with it sooner

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Leonid
Leonid
@leonid@norden.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 6 hours ago

@pluralistic „why did you choose such a fucking dumb word and not something more polite, you asshole“ 😂

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Iwillyeah
Iwillyeah
@Iwillyeah@mastodon.ie replied  ·  activity timestamp 6 hours ago

@pluralistic he must just hate swearing.

Wait...

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Sean Eric Fagan
Sean Eric Fagan
@kithrup@wandering.shop replied  ·  activity timestamp 6 hours ago

@pluralistic It's a perfectly cromulent word, someone just needs to embiggen their vocabulary.

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Charlie Stross
Charlie Stross
@cstross@wandering.shop replied  ·  activity timestamp 6 hours ago

@kithrup @pluralistic Mind you I want the abbreviation e13n to catch on, if only to make it easier to keep to character limits on social media accounts

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Patrys
Patrys
@patrys@mastodon.online replied  ·  activity timestamp 17 minutes ago

@cstross @kithrup @pluralistic Technically, isn't it e14n? I kind of wish it was shorter, so the abbreviation became e10n 🙃

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𝐉𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫
𝐉𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫
@jonberger@sfba.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 5 hours ago

@cstross @kithrup @pluralistic Or e14n if you spell it right, which the author of that email didn't.

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Paul J Wege
Paul J Wege
@makeratschool@kanoa.de replied  ·  activity timestamp 6 hours ago

@pluralistic https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=PTsSk0r_Tq8

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Anchinya
Anchinya
@anchinya@aus.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 7 hours ago

@pluralistic enshittification works well

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Mr. Lance E Sloan (IRL) 👤
Mr. Lance E Sloan (IRL) 👤
@sloanlance@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 7 hours ago

@pluralistic
They're not entirely wrong. I would've used "fuckitallupified".

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VampirePenguin
VampirePenguin
@VampirePenguin@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 8 hours ago

@pluralistic You really have to have a high opinion of yourself to email an author with such low effort criticism. Why not just impotently whine on socials like a normal person?

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GutterPoetry
GutterPoetry
@GutterPoetry@mastodon.me.uk replied  ·  activity timestamp 8 hours ago

@pluralistic

Yeah craphound, of all the words you could have chosen... Jeez

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sndein
sndein
@sndein@mastodon.gamedev.place replied  ·  activity timestamp 8 hours ago

@pluralistic "because it's accurate"

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Jess Fairbairn
Jess Fairbairn
@JessFairbairn@aoir.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 8 hours ago

@pluralistic the fact it's caught on means it was the right word

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Mad Engineering
Mad Engineering
@madengineering@mastodon.cloud replied  ·  activity timestamp 8 hours ago

@pluralistic Honestly the verbiage makes sense.

"The chocolate cream in our product is so expensive, why can't we use dog poo instead?"
"Trust me, the customers will never know the difference."
blobfacepalm

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xs4me2
xs4me2
@xs4me2@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 8 hours ago

@pluralistic

Enfuckification then?

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Gabriele Marcosanti :opensuse:
Gabriele Marcosanti :opensuse:
@gmarcosanti@mastodon.uno replied  ·  activity timestamp 8 hours ago

@pluralistic answer: because God told me so.

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Stephen Cox Author
Stephen Cox Author
@stephenwhq@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic

I think it is a great word because it starts the conversation and it's deservedly angry

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jer
jer
@jerrej@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic

Why did you write that book "Do Not Build The Torment Nexus?

Now nobody wants to use my #tormentnexus !

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Leni
Leni
@leni@todon.eu replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic Though does the term not do exact justice to the phenomenon described? The author of this e-mail should acknowledge that.

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reep
reep
@reep@troet.cafe replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic Can't think of many cases, where wording hits meaning as good as here.

Maybe we need a latinized Version, to enable entry into science speak? 🤪 Might that soothe spirits?

Proposing: >> merdificatio << ... with additional enhancement of merdificatio maior... for best enshittification by our much beloved big platforms.

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ancilevien74
ancilevien74
@ancilevien74@piaille.fr replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic Maybe for the sender enshittification is a *good* thing and he simply does not understand why you have coined a *bad* word for it?

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Konstantin Macher
Konstantin Macher
@pneutig@eupolicy.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic
The irony of not minding the domainname of your mailserver at the same time when sending that feedback 😂

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Rui Carmo
Rui Carmo
@rcarmo@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic @cstross that is a very eloquent, completely pre-enshittification honest-to-$DIVINITY email. No notes.

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Hugs4friends ♾🇺🇦 🇵🇸😷
Hugs4friends ♾🇺🇦 🇵🇸😷
@Tooden@aus.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic I think it's the perfect word.

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Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
@Npars01@mstdn.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic

Scalzi's approach was to grade his hate mail for grammar, spelling, & cogency.

Brilliant!
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/10/12/your-hate-mail-will-be-graded-new-edition-jan-10/

Whatever

Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: New Edition, Jan ’10

I’ve been sitting on this bit of news for a while now, but now is as good a time as any to announce it: Tor Books will be releasing a trade paperback edition of my Hugo-winning essay collecti…
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Fissile
Fissile
@Fissile@mastodon.art replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic I keep being amazed by how deeply rooted the fear of supposedly dirty words is in some people.

I see so many who censor their own writing even in private messages. Like, writing f**k instead of fuck.

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Matt
Matt
@matt@oslo.town replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic I think this is fan mail. 💌

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James 🦉 #FBPE 🇪🇺
James 🦉 #FBPE 🇪🇺
@freequaybuoy@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic Yeah Cory, like have you even considered regional variations? It's Endumpification in southern England, Enshiteification in the north (shortened from Enbagofshiteification), and Enseeyouseyoumassivejobbyification in Scotland.

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Workshopshed
Workshopshed
@Workshopshed@mastodon.scot replied  ·  activity timestamp 8 hours ago

@freequaybuoy @pluralistic am reminded of the Scots translation of The Twitts

Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
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Troed Sångberg
Troed Sångberg
@troed@swecyb.com replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@freequaybuoy

fwiw even the Swedish public media has gone with "förskitning" as the translation to use and it really rolls of the tongue here :D

@pluralistic

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Krazov
Krazov
@Krazov@mstdn.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 8 hours ago

@troed @freequaybuoy @pluralistic Polish language has a couple of attempts here. One is "enszitifikacja," which is a straight cliche. The other one is "gównowacenie," which is a transaltion. But the best one is "gównia pochyła," which is a play on words with "równia pochyła" (slippery slope), where "slope" is tranformed into "shit." The rationale is that once you're on it, you just roll down, and there's no going back.

(I also saw "rozpierdoszana," but I don't even know how to explain it. :D)

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Neo Ehproque
Neo Ehproque
@ehproque@neopaquita.es replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic maybe they should take a look at your domain name and reflect

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surdfish
surdfish
@surdfish@beige.party replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic

Not to be confused with enshittfiction, which is just past the non-enshittfiction section.

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noots
noots
@ypislon@chaos.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic missed chance to criticize the term for being shitty

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Sebastian Gießmann
Sebastian Gießmann
@sebgiessmann@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic This word is just right.

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7heo@mastodon.sdf.org
7heo@mastodon.sdf.org
@7heo@mastodon.sdf.org replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic

Because "emmerdement" already existed.

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Bob
Bob
@thinkl33t@chaos.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic tell them they can call it e13n if they want to be cool about it

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Stephen Paulger
Stephen Paulger
@aimaz@mstdn.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic do they propose alternatives or just complain about the one that people understand?

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Ulrich O.
Ulrich O.
@obucate@bildung.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic Love the language of this one.

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CynAq🤘
CynAq🤘
@CynAq@beige.party replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic warning: no one take branding advice from this person.

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Mark Daniels-Wr. 🟢
Mark Daniels-Wr. 🟢
@MarkDW@mstdn.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic I suppose you could reduce or abbreviate it to "nshitt" for the modern reader, or "etm" for the classically inclined? Perhaps the lad has a point even if missing an i?

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Michael
Michael
@implementcontrols@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic Maybe this person forgot to put this through their AI business speak translator. But to me the word is perfect as it sounds accurate upon first hearing it.

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Pepijn
Pepijn
@Pepijn@mastodon.online replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

Enshittfication is like enshittification on steroids!

(or concentrated prune juice really)

@pluralistic

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Trolli Schmittlauch 🦥
Trolli Schmittlauch 🦥
@schmittlauch@toot.matereal.eu replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic “The enshittification of important concept terminology, exhibit 1.”

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Paddy
Paddy
@PaGn@chaos.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic
Maybe just jealous you coined the defining word of the 21st Century?
#enshitification

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Jonas Heide Smith
Jonas Heide Smith
@jonassmith@theforkiverse.com replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic Why do you choose some words and not others?!

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lobingera
lobingera
@lobingera@chaos.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 9 hours ago

@pluralistic this is the way

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