Digital content businesses are struggling to make money with ad revenue shrinking and Google doing its level best to ensure you never click on a valuable link again. Adding a slate of 'gaming' content, then, has proven hugely valuable. It offers a unique way for businesses to capture new users and engage older ones before eventually getting both to spend money they otherwise wouldn’t.
The example given is Wordle, which the New York Times bought last year and has doubtless earned them lots of money. "LinkedIn’s decision to get into puzzle games shouldn’t be surprising," says The Verge, and with that context, I guess it isn't. We've spoken before about the creeping enshittification of online platforms. It may be premature to file this as another case - maybe it'll improve the experience on LinkedIn! - but if not, it's an interesting example of fractal enshittification: Google's own shenanigans are forcing LinkedIn to attract and retain users by pushing strange word games on us all. Rather than enshittify as a result of processes emerging from within, perhaps this case shows that interdependent platforms already in the process of enshittifying will mutually accelerate that process?
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