Managing editor Michelle Pini sums up top examples of Macquarie Dictionary's defining new Word of the Year 2024: enshittification.
FOR THOSE who love words, it’s not every day that a new example comes along that neatly and eloquently epitomises an entire state of affairs.
This week, however, the Macquarie Dictionary outdid itself, announcing its word of the year as:
ENSHITTIFICATION
noun Colloquial the gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking.
The committee elaborates on this:
‘A very basic Anglo-Saxon term wrapped in affixes which elevate it to being almost formal; almost respectable. This word captures what many of us feel is happening to the world and to so many aspects of our lives at the moment.’
Indeed it does capture what so many of us feel.
And to further expound on this, Independent Australia interprets enshittification to mean:
Turning to shit, the process of turning to shit and everything that propels or otherwise assists the turning to shit process.
In honour of our new favourite term, here are our top five most worthy recent examples of enshittification.
My smackdown of Senator Hanson today pic.twitter.com/hDnqHM47O6
— Fatima Payman (@SenatorPayman) November 27, 2024
5. FAR-RIGHT NUTJOB NORMALCY
Though not a new phenomenon, the gradual legitimisation of those who seek only to divide and destroy within our very own parliament deserves mention.
While extremist parliamentarians such as Ralph Babet and Pauline Hanson have been around a long time, the establishment of extremist and divisive views has become far more mainstream since individuals such as Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison and now Peter Dutton rose to lead Australia’s major conservative party.
This was on show again today, with Pauline Hanson's latest antics. Hanson – a convicted racist, to coin Senator Lidia Thorpe's description – has been delaying Senate business by insisting that Senator Payman has not renounced her Afghan citizenship, despite legal documentation indicating Payman has done everything in her power to do so.
Hanson was expertly “smacked down” in Parliament by Senator Fatima Payman on this occasion but Hanson's persistent disruption and continual undermining of the democratic process is another example of this legitimisation of extremism.
4. THE PLATFORM FORMERLY KNOWN AS TWITTER
So many of us have fond memories of this social media platform from the pre-Musked era.
Though only two years since Musk's takeover this platform has experienced a steady process of enshittification, which will likely be complete by the time its owner is formally ensconced as chief of Trump’s new “government efficiency commission”.
Here is a timeline of the main enshittification moments:
October 2022
- Billionaire and Trumpist Elon Musk completes Twitter acquisition.
November 2022
- Musk sacks key staff (particularly hate speech monitors).
- Almost immediately, accounts formerly banned for vile hate speech, inciting violence and online bullying are reinstated.
- Mass exodus of legitimate users begins.
July 2023
- Twitter rebranded as X.
September 2024
- The blocking feature is amended to allow blocked accounts to read your posts.
November 2024
- Trump wins U.S. Election and announces the appointment of Musk to lead the newly-created department of government efficiency.
January 2025
- Trump to be sworn in as president.
- Mass exodus from the platform formerly known as Twitter complete.
3. THE PLATFORM STILL KNOWN AS FACEBOOK
Though Mark Zuckerberg established this social media platform, there is not enough space here to illustrate the many ways in which he has gradually manipulated it to ensure only information he deems suitable enters our feeds.
Suffice it to say independent media, non-Far-Right views, posts which inform rather than push propaganda, civil debate instead of violence and hate speech, and anything that questions neoliberalism rarely sees the light of day.
2. CONVICTED FELON WINS U.S. ELECTION
Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States for the second time is probably the foremost enshittification moment, globally.
Given Musk’s ability to purchase a social media platform for $44 billion and within two years reduce its value to around $9 billion, however, perhaps the newly formed government efficiency department he is poised to lead will also complete the process of enshittification of the U.S. democratic system.
1. #MURDOCHGUTTERMEDIA
This is the number one reason we can’t have nice things and also why enshittification is now a necessary word.
Murdoch’s assorted gutter rags, websites and associated paraphernalia encapsulate enshittification in all its splendour. They promote and glorify aforesaid division and hate, and normalise and enable the rise of leaders such as Trump and Dutton.
Above all, they ensure those with money and power get every opportunity to enshittify everything they touch.
Subscribe NOW to receive editorials like this one (usually only available to subscribers) directly to your inbox and access all our work.
Follow managing editor Michelle Pini on Bluesky @michellepini.bsky.social and Independent Australia on Bluesky @independentaus.bsky.social.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.
