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

submitted 6 months ago by hedge@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org

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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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[–] forrgott@lemm.ee 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I'm a little bit confused by your post. Publicly-traded companies, by and large, place extraordinary emphasis on short term, quarter by quarter profit. Seems like a very strong contender for the root cause if the issue?

Enshitification is about monetization, getting more money from the same customer base.

Doesn't this statement support publicly traded status being a riot cause, though?

I must assume I'm misunderstanding your argument...?

[–] vk6flab@lemmy.radio 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

The vast majority of companies don't start by being publicly traded. They begin life as a good idea, an itch to scratch, or how to make money fast.

The public trading happens when the founders run out of money or get stars in their eyes about "the fortune" they're sitting on.

That's where the wheels come off, but the process is well and truly in motion by that stage.

[–] forrgott@lemm.ee 1 points 6 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