The Real Reason Instagram Feels Worse: The Case Against Social Media Doomerism

About this episode

Is "enshittification" real, or are we just refusing to take accountability for our own screen time?  SUPPORT MY WORK:  Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co          Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz In this episode of Power User, I sat down with NYC-based cyber ethnographer, designer, and NYU professor Ruby Thelot to debate his viral and controversial Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) essay, "Enshittification Isn't Real". While Cory Doctorow's famous theory of enshittification argues that tech platforms inevitably decay as they extract value from users and businesses, Ruby argues that when it comes to social media, the data tells a completely different story. We dive deep into American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) polling, the myth of platform "lock-in," and why he thinks blaming Big Tech algorithms disempowers everyday internet users. Plus, we get into a heated debate over the rise of "paratechnology" (buying hardware like the Brick or apps like Opal to restrict your own phone use), why people are returning to single-purpose devices like the iPod, why you should stop using Instagram to text your friends, and how the bipa