Fediverse

tl;dw

• Cory Doctorow coins the term "enshittification" to describe how platforms start out benefiting users but eventually abuse users and business customers to extract all value.

• Facebook started by prioritizing user privacy over ads but now prioritizes profits over all else.

• Network effects are a double-edged sword - they lock users in but also make platforms vulnerable if users leave en masse.

• Low switching costs due to universality and interoperability allow competitors to reverse engineer platforms and plug in competing services.

• Mandatory interoperability and limiting data control can curb platform power by distributing control to users and smaller companies.

• Recent antitrust actions aim to roll back decades of lax merger policy that let platforms consolidate power.

• Breakups will take a long time so interoperability is a faster way to restore competition.

• Laws should limit abusive behavior rather than rely on platforms to self-regulate.

• Federated open services fail gracefully and encourage migration to better platforms.

• Political will is growing but change will be gradual - focus should be on harm reduction in the near term.