Members Garth Gator Posted November 27 Members Posted November 27 Image generated on AI Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary has declared “enshittification” as its Word of the Year for 2024. The term, coined by British-Canadian blogger Cory Doctorow, gets straight to the point: it's about the way services, especially those online, seem to go from good to bad as profit margins take precedence. At a time when digital platforms are feeling increasingly like they care more about ads than users, it’s a word that seems to hit home for many. The term practically has the opposite meaning of Dictionary.com's Word of the Year. Doctorow originally used “enshittification” to describe a pattern in which tech platforms start out offering something good, but then slowly degrade as they attempt to squeeze more money from users and partners. He put it plainly: “We’re all living through the enshittocene,” where the platforms we depend on are “turning into giant piles of s**t.” It’s not exactly a flattering word, but it’s a fitting one—and, notably, both the public and the Macquarie Dictionary’s selection committee agreed on it, a rare occurrence that speaks volumes about the shared frustration out there. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Macquarie Dictionary (@macquariedictionary) Victoria Morgan, Macquarie Dictionary’s managing editor, explained that the term really captures the way many people feel about the current state of online services—that sense of a once-useful tool slowly losing its value as it becomes overrun by ads, subscriptions, and profit-driven tweaks. It’s a reflection of a broader sentiment that users are tired of being the product, rather than the priority, of the platforms they use daily. Runner-up for Word of the Year was “brainrot,” a term that describes the mental mush many feel after consuming too much low-quality content on social media. It’s the kind of feeling you get after scrolling for hours through videos you won’t remember five minutes later. Another notable mention was “rawdogging,” an amusingly evocative phrase that refers to embarking on a long-haul flight without any form of electronic entertainment—just you, the empty hours, and maybe a stale airline snack. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Macquarie Dictionary (@macquariedictionary) There was also “right to disconnect,” which has gained traction thanks to recent Australian legislation that allows employees to ignore work communications outside of office hours. It’s an idea that speaks to a growing push for work-life balance, and its inclusion shows that language continues to evolve in response to changes in law and workplace culture. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Macquarie Dictionary (@macquariedictionary) https://www.huffpost.com/entry/australia-word-of-the-year-enshittification_n_67461028e4b0fffc5a468f28 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-26/macquarie-dictionary-word-of-the-year-2024/104648884 https://www.news.com.au/national/macquarie-dictionarys-word-of-the-year-has-landed-and-no-its-not-brat/news-story/31070d50848184a1c51b9084f7112587 https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/nov/26/enshittification-macquarie-dictionary-word-of-the-year-explained Quote
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