Avoiding Enshittification
People forget that when Bezos introduced Amazon Prime, Wall St. flipped out, because they insisted that it would cost way too much for too little benefit. But, through it all Amazon survived (and thrived) because Bezos just kept telling investors exactly what his plan was, and never backed down, no matter what Wall St. kept saying to him.
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This is too easily forgotten, but your users are everything if you run an internet business. They’re not “the product.” They’re what makes your site useful and valuable, and often provide the best marketing you could never buy by convincing others to join and providing you with all of the best ideas on how to improve things and make your service even better for the users. The moment you’re undermining your own community, you’re beginning to spiral downward.
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Push the power to make your service better out from the service to the users themselves and watch what they do. Let them build. Let them improve your service. Let them make it work better for you. But, you have to have some trust here. If you’re focused on “Rule 3” you have to recognize that sometimes your users will create value that you don’t capture. Or even that someone else captures. But in the long run, it still flows back to you, as it makes your service that much more valuable.
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If you’re charging for something that was once free, you’re taking away value from your community. You’re changing the nature of the bargain, and ripping away the trust that your community put in you. Instead, always look for something new that is worth paying for above and beyond what you already offered.
Previously:
- Amazon Prime Dark Patterns Lawsuit
- Amazon Account Locked Due to Alleged Remarks to Driver
- Reddit API AMA and User Revolt
- The Enshittification of All Things
- Jeff Bezos to Step Down as Amazon CEO
3 Comments RSS · Twitter · Mastodon
Amazon is shit. I recently tried to order a silly spiderman inspired suction cup shooter that my son had seen on YouTube shorts and wanted for his birthday.
It was one of the worst experiences of online shopping I've had, including a promised 10$ discount I never received etc.
Horrible, 0/10 won't use again every.
and forcing prime customers, long-term customers (been a customer since almost day one of bookselling) to watch commercials on way too much content now moved to effing crap FreeVee as well.
hate amazon more every frickin day
