This article is mostly written through the lens of Twitter’s recent enshittification, but I can’t help but think of Wizards of the Coast and the recent OGL controversies as I read it. More parallels than I’d previously noticed.
From: @mmasnick
https://mastodon.social/@mmasnick/109746277084888245
@kidviddy @mmasnick so I’ve been thinking about the short term thinking problem of quarterly profit numbers as well, and I think there’s more to it than doctrine. Public companies are in competition with other public companies for investors in sort of a macro market, and this drives the need for displaying continual growth, bc if you just, say, stay at a healthy equilibrium, your stocks lose out to the ones that constantly increase, and your valuation sinks.
@kidviddy @mmasnick but public stock trading, as corrosive as it is to the long term interests of businesses, their workers, their consumers, and their environment, still seems like a better alternative than concentrating investment opportunities in real estate, venture capitalism, etc. so not sure what the solution is.