Yesterday a16z published an article in which NYU Professor of Design, AI and Media Theory Ruby Thelot argued that “enshittification,” or the concept that technology platforms get worse after they lock in users, isn’t real.
asserted
they → publish → users
In reality, Thelot says, people use social media more than ever and report that they are satisfied with it.
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they → say → it
Thelot argues that, enshittification, a term coined by Cory Doctorow which has become one of the stickiest ideas of our era to explain the current state of technology and capitalism, is a misdiagnosis of what he describes as “platform narcissism.”
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he → argue → narcissism
The idea is that people, namely older people like Doctorow and western geratric millennials who used to get a lot of value out of Facebook, selfishly think platforms should continue to cater to their needs even though they aged out of them and should be focused on raising their kids.
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they → use → kids
The platforms are actually popular and well liked, but by younger people who are using Instagram and deriving value from it in a way older people can’t understand, or by people in other countries and contexts than their own.
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people → like → own
Additionally, Thelot argues, the theory of enshittification allows users who should log off an excuse to stay on platforms that it is fashionable to hate.
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it → argue → that
They spend time there, but say they hate it and can’t leave because they are trapped.
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they → spend → it
“Perhaps the reason why the platform seems worse is because your life has changed,” Thelot says.
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Thelot → seem → ?
“Over the same period of time, your goals have changed, and they no longer fit with the platform’s new features.
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they → change → features
Why the hell would a fifty-five year-old be watching Reels?
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old → watch → Reels
The indisputable fact of Thelot’s argument is that various social media platforms have more users and are more profitable than ever.
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platforms → have → users
It’s important to note that companies like Meta have a history of juking the numbers, and that despite this it recently reported its first ever decline of 20 million users, but Thelot’s point stands: Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are massively popular.
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Instagram → ’ → users
I will also cosign Thelot’s advice that people should log off.
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people → cosign → advice
There are many reasons why some people can’t, present company included, but it’s never not good advice and even if you have to be on social media you can probably reduce your time scrolling.
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you → be → scrolling
Thelot’s argument falls apart when he tries to prove people are actually satisfied with their time on these platforms.
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people → fall → platforms
To prove this, he points to research from American Customer Satisfaction Index, a private company which surveys customers’ satisfaction with various products and services.
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which → prove → products
In its ACSI Entertainment Study 2026 it surveyed 30,886 customers and found that overall satisfaction with social media rose by 1 percent to a score of 75 out of 100.
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satisfaction → survey → 100
If satisfaction with social media is rising instead of falling and doesn’t have a terrible score, it’s doing the opposite of enshittifying and people don’t actually hate it, he argues.
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he → rise → it
Kudos to Thelot for finding data that appears to contradict the human civilization-wide backlash to social media and nearly the only political issue that a deeply divided country can agree on, but this is cherry picking.
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this → find → that
Here are the type things customers are asked to evaluate with a score of 0-100 in the survey this rising satisfaction score for social media: “Quality of mobile app, reliability of mobile app (minimal down time, crashes, lags), loading speed and reliability, ease of navigation, ease of using the site on different devices, speed and reliability of video clips, variety of services and information, freshness of content, relevance of content, ability to use site without disruption, personal relevance of ads seen.
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Quality → ask → ads
Customers scored all these aspects of social media highly (between 68 and 84), and I agree with their evaluation.
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I → score → evaluation
Instagram loads really fast.
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Instagram → load → ?
I can scroll videos on TikTok very quickly.
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I → scroll → TikTok
I watched one YouTube Short about Warhammer 40,000 lore, and then was served more than a dozen other YouTube Shorts about Warhammer 40,000 lore that were both fresh and relevant.
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that → watch → lore
I do not contest any of this and I don’t think that is why both my friends in the DSA and my Trump supporting family members agree that Instagram is bad.
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Instagram → contest → DSA
If we wanted to find out why Americans have negative feelings about social media or why we think these platforms are enshittifying, we might ask questions like: Does using Instagram make you feel good?
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you → want → Instagram
Do you think children younger than 13 should have unlimited access to TikTok?
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children → think → TikTok
Let’s look at some other data.
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’s → look → data
A recent survey from The Searchlight institute found that voters “overwhelmingly believe social media has a negative impact on society.”
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media → find → society
Last year, an Emerson College poll found that Americans have low confidence in information they get from social media and that social media platforms are most responsible for the creation of “fake news.”
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platforms → find → news
In 2021, the Cato Institute found that 75 percent of Americans don’t trust social media to make fair content moderation decisions.
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percent → find → decisions
In August, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that three in five Americans support stronger oversight of social media companies.
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Americans → find → companies
35 percent said social media stressed them out.
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media → say → them
52 percent said they spend too much time on social media.
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they → say → media
A Pew poll in July found that 6 in 10 Americans supported a social media ban for kids under 16.
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Americans → find → 16
These opinions, especially as they relate to the impact social media has on younger people, has nothing to do with how fast videos load on Instagram or how effective the ads are.
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ads → relate → Instagram
The apps function well technically and the ads are making money, this is self-evident and the reason we have a problem.
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we → function → problem
The reason people feel like social media is enshittifying is that these companies promised to connect people across the world but in reality have chased engagement, catering to basest the human urges to hold our attention.
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companies → feel → attention
Kids especially feel socially pressured to use these apps because that’s what every other kid is doing and where they feel their community is.
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community → feel → apps
It is such a clearly awful and obvious result of the way these apps have enshittified that in August Meta agreed to pay $17 billion dollars in penalties and finally curb the most dangerous aspects of its platforms over claims it endangered children.
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it → enshittifie → children
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
