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I really dislike how every corporate communication regarding an “update” now means “here’s how we’re making things worse for you.” I know honesty has never rea

I really dislike how every corporate communication regarding an “update” now means “here’s how we’re making things worse for you.” I know honesty has never really been the fundamental value of public relations initiatives, but it would be refreshing to occasionally see a company saying that they’re putting the squeeze on customers because they need to protect their margins or even just because they can. The formerly-neutral “update” is starting to rankle.

Paul-Craft 3y ago
> ... "To better serve our customers, here's how we're making things worse for you. FTFY.
- givemeethekeys 3y ago
  "To clarify our financial position, we're firing everyone and shutting down".
- csours 3y ago
  To better serve some of our customers, here's how we're screwing the other ones.
- CraigJPerry 3y ago
  Corey Doctrow has a good term for this, or at least it’s him i heard say it: enshitification. I think it just captures the dynamics beautifully, it’s almost poetic.
  - bsder 3y ago
    Oy, double T. It's "enshittification". And that's even the way Doctorow spelled it. The root word is "shitty". Double T. I've seen this a couple of times now without the double T, and it pains me.
  - latexr 3y ago
    Original post was on the enshittification of TikTok. https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys
  - hadlock 3y ago
    [flagged]
  - Paul-Craft 3y ago
    Ah, yes. Cory Doctrow. One of those people everybody hoped was full of shit and/or irrelevant 20 years ago, who, sadly, turned out not only to be right, but completely relevant (c.f. https://StallmanWasRight.reddit.com https://StallmanWasRight.reddit.com) That's a great word, but wouldn't just plain "shittification" be better?
    - ncallaway 3y ago
      I think it's better as "enshitification". Where "shitification" would probably be a noun (like "relocation"), "enshitification" then becomes a verb to carry out that process (like "endanger" to "danger").
      - pxc 3y ago
        Nah, the verb form is definitely 'enshittify'. 'ification' always still indicates a noun.
  - Frost1x 3y ago
    I didn't know there was a semi-common term coined for this process that seems pervasive. I'm fully adopting it.
pcthrowaway 3y ago
Not always: https://tailscale.com/blog/pricing-v3/ https://tailscale.com/blog/pricing-v3/ Also, a free tailscale account might be a good solution to the household restrictions
jader201 3y ago
Reading this one, though, this seems like a rare case where they're not trying to spin it as a positive for the customer. They pretty much just state what they're doing, and even ack at the bottom that there are other options. FWIW, I'm not (currently) a subscriber, and only subscribe seasonally as shows get released that I'm interested in (e.g. Stranger Things), which isn't often.
bee_rider 3y ago
Somehow I find “clarifications” which rescind an obviously boneheaded move to be more annoying. At least the bad-update isn’t an attempt to totally gaslight us.
crazygringo 3y ago
I don't see anything to dislike here. It is an update, and this particular notice is avoiding any of the usual nonsense like "to better serve our customers" or "to improve your experience". It seems straightforward and to the point. And they're a for-profit corporation, of course they need to protect their profitability. That goes without saying. If they go out of business, then no Netflix programming for anybody, and no subscriber wants that or they wouldn't be subscribing in the first place.
- beerpls 3y ago
  They’re not struggling to keep the lights on. They’re making a calculated bet they can extract more profit this way.
  - crazygringo 3y ago
    Their stock went from $690 in Oct 2021 to $175 in June 2022. That's a 75% plummet, which is definitely approaching the equivalent of struggling-to-keep-the-lights-on for a modern corporation. That's three quarters of the way to bankruptcy, big red flashing danger lights. So of course this is a calculated bet to improve profitability. Virtually everything a for-profit corporation does is to improve profitability -- that's the whole point of being a business in the first place. What else would you expect?
    - syrrim 3y ago
      Or they were supremely overvalued as of oct '21, as were many other stocks and securities, and the decline represents a return to sanity.
      - crazygringo 3y ago
        No. It was specifically due to not meeting expected subscriber numbers, prompting a widespread negative reevaluation of Netflix's entire business model. The decrease was way beyond anything affecting the stock market or tech stocks generally. A simple glance at the numbers, and the dramatic plummets directly after earnings reports, makes that clear.
rektide 3y ago
What else should they say about their enshittification? The idea that many updates are now hostile is a disturbing but real hallmark of the cloudified age, in particular. Users used to have more choice, to have the power to decide to update. Now they cannot manage the software; that than being a user, they are now merely a client.
cprecioso 3y ago
Moreover I don’t see how this is really an update on anything, they’re not saying “this is how it was done and how it will be done now”, they’re just stating things as matter of fact, which makes it difficult to know exactly what they’re changing.
koyote 3y ago
I received an e-mail update several weeks ago from a company that actually improved and made things cheaper in every way. I had to read it 5 times to be sure that there was absolutely nothing being cut/made worse because they used the same corporate speak as one usually does for bad news (i.e. there was no "GOOD NEWS YOU NOW PAY $10 LESS", you had to dig through the details...).
- atleastoptimal 3y ago
  This is basically how things go >Company starts >Makes things better to get a larger market share >Gets a mini-monopoly (large enough share that inertia and name recognition can preserve its market share) >Slowly but deliberately gets worse to increase profit margins
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - koyote 3y ago
    Yeah that's how it usually works. This, however, was a major supermarket chain that's been going for nearly 100 years. They decided to make delivery cheaper AND reduce minimum spend per delivery by half. There must have been something they made more expensive somewhere to compensate or maybe they were pushed to do this by the market, I am not sure.
    - bongobingo1 3y ago
      > There must have been something they made more expensive somewhere to compensate Milk and eggs? Probably they saw a dip in spending because people can't afford extras. Cheaper delivery can get people to add-spend "cause I'm already paying for delivery, should make it worth it".
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
ryanseys 3y ago
There was an internal joke / meme at Google that any announcement starting with "An update on X" == we are killing X, to the point that if someone was sending their resignation email the subject line of the email would be "An update on <name>" - https://blog.chromium.org/2023/05/an-update-on-lock-icon.html https://blog.chromium.org/2023/05/an-update-on-lock-icon.htm... - https://blogger.googleblog.com/2019/01/an-update-on-google-and-blogger.html https://blogger.googleblog.com/2019/01/an-update-on-google-a... - https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2015/06/an-update-on-eclipse-android-developer.html https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2015/06/an-update-... The rest: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22an+update+on%22+site%3Agoogleblog.com https://www.google.com/search?q=%22an+update+on%22+site%3Ago...
- seedless-sensat 3y ago
  To me, the worst Google corpspeak/best meme was "Advancing our amazing bet" https://fiber.google.com/blog/2016/10/advancing-our-amazing-bet.html?m=1 https://fiber.google.com/blog/2016/10/advancing-our-amazing-...
  - MichaelZuo 3y ago
    The obtuseness of communication is inversely proportional to the strength of position of the communicator multiplied by the scope of the message.
- saagarjha 3y ago
  To result for me on that search query is “An update on kids and data protection on YouTube”. I guess no more kids and data protection? :P
- anthlax 3y ago
  My current favorite corp speak is “we can’t wait to share it with you”. Seems like it’s in literally every product announcement. At least this one is positive
mynegation 3y ago
I do not see anything dishonest here. No lies, no broken promises. If anything it is a bit passive-aggressive, but essentially the message is: “many of you are breaking terms or service and we are going to le you know we know who you are, as a warning”.
pimlottc 3y ago
It’s also comically broad, as if they’re talking about the concept of sharing in general. “An update on sharing: it’s bad now”
m463 3y ago
reminds me of dialogs that say: [not now] [ask me again later] it sort of sets you on edge. ... as to the title, maybe "on sharing" would be better. I also remember Steve Jobs' memo on adobe flash. He titled it "Thoughts on Flash"¹ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughts_on_Flash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughts_on_Flash
HPsquared 3y ago
Selection bias, negative news is shared more.

Paul-Craft 3y ago

> ... "To better serve our customers, here's how we're making things worse for you. FTFY.

givemeethekeys 3y ago
"To clarify our financial position, we're firing everyone and shutting down".
csours 3y ago
To better serve some of our customers, here's how we're screwing the other ones.
CraigJPerry 3y ago
Corey Doctrow has a good term for this, or at least it’s him i heard say it: enshitification. I think it just captures the dynamics beautifully, it’s almost poetic.
- bsder 3y ago
  Oy, double T. It's "enshittification". And that's even the way Doctorow spelled it. The root word is "shitty". Double T. I've seen this a couple of times now without the double T, and it pains me.
- latexr 3y ago
  Original post was on the enshittification of TikTok. https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys
- hadlock 3y ago
  [flagged]
- Paul-Craft 3y ago
  Ah, yes. Cory Doctrow. One of those people everybody hoped was full of shit and/or irrelevant 20 years ago, who, sadly, turned out not only to be right, but completely relevant (c.f. https://StallmanWasRight.reddit.com https://StallmanWasRight.reddit.com) That's a great word, but wouldn't just plain "shittification" be better?
  - ncallaway 3y ago
    I think it's better as "enshitification". Where "shitification" would probably be a noun (like "relocation"), "enshitification" then becomes a verb to carry out that process (like "endanger" to "danger").
    - pxc 3y ago
      Nah, the verb form is definitely 'enshittify'. 'ification' always still indicates a noun.
- Frost1x 3y ago
  I didn't know there was a semi-common term coined for this process that seems pervasive. I'm fully adopting it.

pcthrowaway 3y ago

Not always: https://tailscale.com/blog/pricing-v3/ https://tailscale.com/blog/pricing-v3/ Also, a free tailscale account might be a good solution to the household restrictions

jader201 3y ago

Reading this one, though, this seems like a rare case where they're not trying to spin it as a positive for the customer. They pretty much just state what they're doing, and even ack at the bottom that there are other options. FWIW, I'm not (currently) a subscriber, and only subscribe seasonally as shows get released that I'm interested in (e.g. Stranger Things), which isn't often.

bee_rider 3y ago

Somehow I find “clarifications” which rescind an obviously boneheaded move to be more annoying. At least the bad-update isn’t an attempt to totally gaslight us.

crazygringo 3y ago

I don't see anything to dislike here. It is an update, and this particular notice is avoiding any of the usual nonsense like "to better serve our customers" or "to improve your experience". It seems straightforward and to the point. And they're a for-profit corporation, of course they need to protect their profitability. That goes without saying. If they go out of business, then no Netflix programming for anybody, and no subscriber wants that or they wouldn't be subscribing in the first place.

beerpls 3y ago
They’re not struggling to keep the lights on. They’re making a calculated bet they can extract more profit this way.
- crazygringo 3y ago
  Their stock went from $690 in Oct 2021 to $175 in June 2022. That's a 75% plummet, which is definitely approaching the equivalent of struggling-to-keep-the-lights-on for a modern corporation. That's three quarters of the way to bankruptcy, big red flashing danger lights. So of course this is a calculated bet to improve profitability. Virtually everything a for-profit corporation does is to improve profitability -- that's the whole point of being a business in the first place. What else would you expect?
  - syrrim 3y ago
    Or they were supremely overvalued as of oct '21, as were many other stocks and securities, and the decline represents a return to sanity.
    - crazygringo 3y ago
      No. It was specifically due to not meeting expected subscriber numbers, prompting a widespread negative reevaluation of Netflix's entire business model. The decrease was way beyond anything affecting the stock market or tech stocks generally. A simple glance at the numbers, and the dramatic plummets directly after earnings reports, makes that clear.

rektide 3y ago

What else should they say about their enshittification? The idea that many updates are now hostile is a disturbing but real hallmark of the cloudified age, in particular. Users used to have more choice, to have the power to decide to update. Now they cannot manage the software; that than being a user, they are now merely a client.

cprecioso 3y ago

Moreover I don’t see how this is really an update on anything, they’re not saying “this is how it was done and how it will be done now”, they’re just stating things as matter of fact, which makes it difficult to know exactly what they’re changing.

koyote 3y ago

I received an e-mail update several weeks ago from a company that actually improved and made things cheaper in every way. I had to read it 5 times to be sure that there was absolutely nothing being cut/made worse because they used the same corporate speak as one usually does for bad news (i.e. there was no "GOOD NEWS YOU NOW PAY $10 LESS", you had to dig through the details...).

atleastoptimal 3y ago
This is basically how things go >Company starts >Makes things better to get a larger market share >Gets a mini-monopoly (large enough share that inertia and name recognition can preserve its market share) >Slowly but deliberately gets worse to increase profit margins
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- koyote 3y ago
  Yeah that's how it usually works. This, however, was a major supermarket chain that's been going for nearly 100 years. They decided to make delivery cheaper AND reduce minimum spend per delivery by half. There must have been something they made more expensive somewhere to compensate or maybe they were pushed to do this by the market, I am not sure.
  - bongobingo1 3y ago
    > There must have been something they made more expensive somewhere to compensate Milk and eggs? Probably they saw a dip in spending because people can't afford extras. Cheaper delivery can get people to add-spend "cause I'm already paying for delivery, should make it worth it".
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

ryanseys 3y ago

There was an internal joke / meme at Google that any announcement starting with "An update on X" == we are killing X, to the point that if someone was sending their resignation email the subject line of the email would be "An update on <name>" - https://blog.chromium.org/2023/05/an-update-on-lock-icon.html https://blog.chromium.org/2023/05/an-update-on-lock-icon.htm... - https://blogger.googleblog.com/2019/01/an-update-on-google-and-blogger.html https://blogger.googleblog.com/2019/01/an-update-on-google-a... - https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2015/06/an-update-on-eclipse-android-developer.html https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2015/06/an-update-... The rest: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22an+update+on%22+site%3Agoogleblog.com https://www.google.com/search?q=%22an+update+on%22+site%3Ago...

seedless-sensat 3y ago
To me, the worst Google corpspeak/best meme was "Advancing our amazing bet" https://fiber.google.com/blog/2016/10/advancing-our-amazing-bet.html?m=1 https://fiber.google.com/blog/2016/10/advancing-our-amazing-...
- MichaelZuo 3y ago
  The obtuseness of communication is inversely proportional to the strength of position of the communicator multiplied by the scope of the message.
saagarjha 3y ago
To result for me on that search query is “An update on kids and data protection on YouTube”. I guess no more kids and data protection? :P
anthlax 3y ago
My current favorite corp speak is “we can’t wait to share it with you”. Seems like it’s in literally every product announcement. At least this one is positive

mynegation 3y ago

I do not see anything dishonest here. No lies, no broken promises. If anything it is a bit passive-aggressive, but essentially the message is: “many of you are breaking terms or service and we are going to le you know we know who you are, as a warning”.

pimlottc 3y ago

It’s also comically broad, as if they’re talking about the concept of sharing in general. “An update on sharing: it’s bad now”

m463 3y ago

reminds me of dialogs that say: [not now] [ask me again later] it sort of sets you on edge. ... as to the title, maybe "on sharing" would be better. I also remember Steve Jobs' memo on adobe flash. He titled it "Thoughts on Flash"¹ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughts_on_Flash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughts_on_Flash

HPsquared 3y ago

Selection bias, negative news is shared more.