[News Terms] Is SNS a Machine That Makes Ddong? 'NCTification'

Explanation of the Collapse Process of Search Portals and SNS
Selected as Word of the Year in Australia and the US
Domestic No.1 Naver Also Undergoes Degradation Process

As the year-end approaches, countries around the world are announcing their words of the year one after another. In the English-speaking world, the famous American dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster selected 'Polarization' as the word of the year. The Oxford University Press in the UK chose 'Brain rot,' referring to the state of the brain becoming dull due to consumption of low-quality online content.

The Southern Hemisphere country Australia also announced its word of the year: Enshittification. On the 26th of last month (local time), AFP reported that Australia's Macquarie Dictionary selected Enshittification as the word of the year. The Macquarie Dictionary defines this word as "the phenomenon where services or products gradually deteriorate as a result of declining quality and profit-seeking, especially on online platforms."

NCTification
Photo by AI Image

The English slang word for 'excrement' (shit) is combined with the prefix 'en-' meaning 'to make' and the suffix '-fication' meaning 'process of becoming' to form this neologism. In Korean, it carries nuances similar to 'gradual degradation' or 'total failure.' The abbreviated form 'Enshitification' is also used. The Macquarie Dictionary committee described Enshittification as "a very basic Anglo-Saxon term wrapped in affixes that elevate it to an almost official and respectable word." The American Linguistic Society also selected this word as the word of the year for 2023.

Enshittification was first used by Canadian novelist Cory Doctorow. In his blog post titled 'Social Quitting' on November 15, 2022, he explained the collapse patterns of social networking services (SNS) like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) over several years using this term.

The general process of Enshittification is that platforms initially attract users by offering high-quality free services and grow. Then, platforms use the collected user data to attract advertisers. To increase revenue, they increase advertisements or introduce paid services.

During this process, advertisements begin to outnumber the content users want, and low-quality content such as fake news and spam starts to flood the platform. Eventually, the platform's quality rapidly deteriorates, leading to users leaving. In other words, the Enshittification phenomenon of platforms like search portals and SNS explains the rapid growth of digital platforms while revealing the serious problems they face.

'Euljiro Restaurants' Search Results with Advertisements
Photo by Naver

The sharp decline in Naver's market share, which held a monopoly position in the domestic search market, can also be seen as a result of the Enshittification phenomenon. According to 'ICT Brief 2024 No. 39,' published by the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation on the 18th of last month, Naver's market share in the domestic search market from January to October was 57.32%. This is about 20 percentage points lower than the same period nine years ago in 2015 (78.06%).

Naver initially attracted users with services like Naver KnowledgeiN and email. As the number of users gradually increased, a search advertising market for restaurants, cafes, and online shopping malls was formed. Now, when searching for popular restaurants in a specific area on Naver's search bar, restaurants that paid advertising fees are displayed first. For some users, this may appear as unnecessary search results. It is undergoing a similar gradual degradation process as Facebook or X.