About Deshittify
Deshittify tracks the decay of the platforms you depend on using a scoring framework built on Cory Doctorow's theory of enshittification—the predictable lifecycle in which platforms attract users with a great product, then degrade it to extract maximum value.
Each product is scored across 10 dimensions using publicly available evidence. The framework was designed and all analyses were conducted with the assistance of AI agents. Scores are AI-generated editorial judgments informed by cited sources, not peer-reviewed research.
What is Enshittification?
Coined by Cory Doctorow in 2022 and named the 2023 Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society, enshittification describes the predictable three-stage lifecycle of platform decay:
- 1.Attract users with a genuinely great product that subsidizes their experience.
- 2.Squeeze users to court business customers, degrading the user experience while offering businesses a good deal.
- 3.Squeeze everyone for shareholders, extracting maximum value from both users and businesses.
Enshittification is enabled by two forces: lock-in—making it prohibitively hard for users to leave—and twiddling—changing the rules invisibly so users can't tell how they're being exploited.
This cycle is not inevitable. It is the result of weakened competition, inadequate regulation, eroded interoperability, and diminished labor power. When these safeguards are strong, platforms have to keep delivering value instead of extracting it.
How It Works
Each product is scored across 10 dimensions of platform behavior, producing an overall score from 0 to 100. Higher scores mean more enshittification.
What “Deshittify” Means
The project is named for the opposite of enshittification—the process of reversing platform decay. Deshittification means holding platforms accountable and reclaiming the value they extract.
For each scored product, Deshittify lists practical tools and alternatives users can adopt to reduce their dependence on decaying platforms.
About This Project
Deshittify is an independent project built and maintained by one person. The scoring framework was designed with the assistance of AI agents. All product analyses—including evidence research, dimensional scoring, and summary writing—were conducted by AI agents and reviewed by the project maintainer.
This is not an academic or institutional project. It has no formal peer review process and no organizational affiliation. Scores are AI-generated editorial judgments based on publicly available evidence, reviewed but not independently validated.
If you spot errors, disagree with a score, or want to contribute, a public contact method is coming soon.
The concept of enshittification was developed by Cory Doctorow, writer, activist, and co-editor of Boing Boing. For a comprehensive treatment, see his book Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It (October 2025).
The 10-dimension scoring framework used by Deshittify was created specifically for this project with the assistance of AI agents. It is inspired by Doctorow's three-stage theory but is not endorsed by or affiliated with Doctorow. The framework has not been independently validated.