There’s something irresistibly amusing about the annual rituals of picking a Word of the Year or naming a Person of the Year. It’s as if organisations feel compelled to leave their own mark on the calendar before we hit December 31. And this year’s linguistic trophy goes to ‘enshittification’, crowned by the Macquarie Dictionary. What a word!
When good ideas go bad
Coined by Cory Doctorow, enshittification describes that oh-so-familiar phenomenon: when a service or product, especially online platforms, starts off as a delightful innovation, then turns into a complete letdown. It’s the corporate equivalent of a warm samosa turning cold and greasy in the name of profits.
Social media apps are, of course, the poster children of enshittification. Take the saga of Twitter — or X, as its rebranded version is called. Once a bustling hub of witty banter and breaking news, it’s now a shadow of its former self.
Person of the Year
While we’re busy laughing (and crying) at this Word of the Year, let’s not forget the race for Person of the Year. The selection process for this is another marvel of modern absurdity. It’s almost always a mix of controversy and committee chaos. One year, it’s an inspiring activist; the next, it’s an algorithm. Yes, that happened.
The concept of selecting a Person of the Year by an algorithm refers to instances where data, rather than a human editorial team, drives the choice. One notable example is Sophia the Robot, a humanoid robot developed by Hanson Robotics, who gained widespread attention after being named a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Innovation Champion in 2017. While not officially named Person of the Year by a publication like Time, her recognition highlighted the role of artificial intelligence in global discourse.
And what if the Person of the Year turned out to be the corporate genius behind enshittification itself? The one who looked at a perfectly good platform and thought, ‘How can I mess this up and make money from it?’ After all, isn’t that what Person of the Year often celebrates — someone who dominates headlines, for better or worse?
A word to remember
It’s all a bit of an elaborate dance, really. The person who invented ‘enshittification’ gets their moment, the villains who live it out get magazine covers, and the rest of us? We’re stuck watching the circus.
But let’s give credit where it is due. Choosing a word like enshittification is a small act of defiance — a way of calling out nonsense for what it is. It reminds us to laugh at the absurd, complain about the greedy, and stay sharp. Because, whether it is apps, algorithms, or end-of-year awards, the enshittification never really stops.