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Does enshitification happen because companies are publicly-traded? (beehaw.org)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Isn't that a prerequisite for enshitification? Publicly-traded companies are required (by law, I think) to maximize profits for their shareholders, even if that means utterly ruining their original product (Reddit, Boeing, etc.), yes? What do you think?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I've always figured a company will go public before enshitification truly gets underway. It's kinda the first step of the process.

I guess my argument is that until that pressure to appease the stockholders exists, there's not a whole lot of motive to justify enshitification. It's hard for me to imagine the process happening any other way.

So, I suppose you can count my vote as being that going public will likely come first. Just my two cents, though, and I don't know anything anyway! :-p