Also more popularly known as enshitification, platform decay refers to the gradual decay of online platforms as they shift from benefitting users to extracting maximum profit. There are generally three discernible stages to this:
- Vendors create high-quality offerings that attract users.
- Vendors move to degrade the offerings for general consumers to prioritise and serve business customers.
- Vendors degrade their services to both general and business customers to maximise short-term profits for shareholders.
An arguable yet clear example of this is Microsoft’s Windows platform, and especially Windows 11. Recent discussions surrounding Windows 11 have been negative, with many citing bloatware, degraded performance (both in speed and functionality), and aggressive pushes for Microsoft’s own services (e.g. forcing the signing in of Microsoft accounts, advertising Xbox services).