'What many of us are hearing': 'Enshittification' named for the year | News

Australia's Macquarie Dictionary says that the word takes on a widespread sense that things are getting worse.

Australia's oldest dictionary of Australian English has chosen “enshittification” – slang for the degradation of products and services online – as the word for 2024.

The Macquarie Dictionary, widely regarded as the standard reference for Australian English, said on Tuesday that the word had tapped into a widespread feeling that things were getting worse, especially in the digital world.

“This word captures what many of us feel is happening in the world and in many aspects of our lives right now,” the dictionary's judging committee said in a statement on its website.

The Macquarie Dictionary said the term – which it defines as “the gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of the service provided, especially of an online platform, and the resulting profiteering” – beat the shortlist. such as “lookmaxxing”, “overtourism” and “sigma”.

The committee named it “the right to terminate” and “fraud” – referring, respectively, to a law that gives workers the right not to answer to management outside of work hours and the practice of taking a long-haul flight without electronic entertainment or educational materials. – as an honorable mention.

Canadian-British writer Cory Doctorow coined “enshittification” in a 2022 essay criticizing the perceived decline of digital platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

In the following blog post in 2023, he expanded the concept, explaining the process by which digital platforms “die”: “First, they are good for their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to return all the profits to them .”

The Macquarie Dictionary last year chose “cozzie livs” – a play on “cost of living” – as its 2023 word.

Macquarie is one of many dictionaries around the world that chooses the word of the year.

The UK's Oxford Dictionary is currently accepting votes from the public to whittle down the shortlist to include “brain rot”, “demure”, and “changing values”.