Australian dictionary's word of the year is ‘enshittification’. What it means

The dictionary committee said that 'enshittification' captures 'what many of us feel is happening to the world and to so many aspects of our lives at the moment'. (Representational image: Unsplash)

Australia’s quasi-official Macquarie Dictionary has selected “enshittification” as its word of the year for 2024. The word was not only the dictionary committee's choice but also people's choice as most Australians voted for it among other options such as brain rot, right to disconnect (RTD), rawdogging, and social battery.

The noun, enshittification, has been described as "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.”

Coined by writer Cory Doctorow, it refers to a process in which apps or digital platforms start off as incredibly useful, but gradually worsen as they seek to make profits.

The Macquarie Dictionary Committee's Choice Word of the Year for 2024 is enshittification, with Honourable Mentions going to right to disconnect (RTD) and rawdogging pic.twitter.com/Y7FLPKD4ir
Macquarie Dictionary (@MacqDictionary) November 25, 2024

Doctorow explains enshittification as the reason why Facebook users’ feeds fill up with junk, Google search is loaded with ads and sponsored content, and why Amazon promotes cheap, badly made products no matter what a customer searches for.

He explained that this decay was a three-stage process. “First, platforms are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves,” The Guardian quoted him as saying. “It’s frustrating. It’s demoralizing. It’s even terrifying.”

On the other hand, the dictionary committee described it as “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."