Yes, this is the lifecycle of enshitiffication on all online platforms.
1. Create something useful or enjoyable for a targeted set of people.
2. Continually cast a bigger and bigger net so that corporate customers see the value— to do this you have to get the 80 iq set on the same platform as the geniuses and the working stiffs.
3. Shift the utility to respond to business customer desires rather than users. Platform is overwhelmed with corporate, paid content and activities.
4. Stop providing services to the businesses now that they are captured. Platform reaches end-stage shit: slop, optimized ads for shit, thirst traps, scams.
The Oatmeal cartoon above really spoke to me. The old weird internet was great because even if something was shit or crazy, it was all there intentionally; someone made the choice to create the page or write the article or even make the ad. Those old weird “one trick” banner adds and pop ups were the first creeping inkling of non-humans controlling what we see. Generative AI is where this all ends: robots continually reheating stuff that has already been created in worse and worse ways in the service of idiots who cannot fully finish and express an idea.
It’s really a nightmare, and it’s empowering the worst type of people who imagine themselves creative. “I have a great idea for a movie, but I just don’t have the time to write a script.”