@atomicpoet I think that it does work though, for a while anyway. Business is always about monetizing a popular trend first, squeezing as much money as they can out of the existing customer base before the users realize what's happening, and then getting out before they lose to much of the money they've gained from the exploitation . They leave the users holding the bag after the raiders enshittify the app the users once loved.

That's the only way that constant "up and to the right" can ever work, and there's not usually anything the users can do about it if the system hasn't been designed with "monetization resistance" as a prime directive. Honestly, I think that most of the systems you mentioned were designed with sale or acquisition in mind from the get-go in the event that they didn't become the dominant acquirer and competition crusher in their respective spaces.

Until services are designed without an eye towards monetization of any sort, this will keep happening.