dictionary.com
paid users
wat?
this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2025
31 points (100.0% liked)
Enshittification
3153 readers
2 users here now
What is enshittification?
The phenomenon of online platforms gradually degrading the quality of their services, often by promoting advertisements and sponsored content, in order to increase profits. (Cory Doctorow, 2022, extracted from Wikitionary) source
The lifecycle of Big Internet
We discuss how predatory big tech platforms live and die by luring people in and then decaying for profit.
Embrace, extend and extinguish
We also discuss how naturally open technologies like the Fediverse can be susceptible to corporate takeovers, rugpulls and subsequent enshittification.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Not shocking, but really wild that they claim that shit like saved lists "can't" have been carried over or exported. Giving zero heads-up is the most "fuck you" part of it for users (especially saying it to people that bothered paying). I hope that it creates even more converts to piracy in general, and that what money they were getting goes to zero. Also hoping that any FOSS projects (would be nice to see free but proprietary ones also) that use dictionary.com as defaults or in API quickly remove them.
Why would they do this? It’s not like the handful of database entries for this feature would cost some huge gob of money. Bizarre.
this explanation they gave is retarded.
Unfortunately, since the coding technology that was used in the previous app version is different from what is used in the new app, it is not possible to recover word lists.
You deleted my saved word list! You're such a.... Umm... Fuck I don't remember what that word was and I can't find it!!
:P
Maybe try checking your premium Thesaurus.com account to find words with a similar meaning!
This is shitty behavior by the company (and a reminder not to rely on online services for anything, not even storing your shopping list). But it isn't Doctorowian enshitification. It isn't a focus shift from consumers to suppliers to then be able to hold both captive, squeeze them dry, and making the service worse in the process. This is just new management pissing off nerds.