Author: James Jackson
Introduction
As part of the Master of Applied Learning and Teaching (MALT) program at Deakin University, students explore how young people navigate education, identity, and community engagement in the 21st century. As part of this work, we developed video-based case studies focused on a contemporary issue related to young people’s lives — an individual story, a community challenge, or a broader social or educational issue. We critically engage with the complexities of young people’s experiences while reflecting on our own professional practice and each film explores themes such as identity formation, social inclusion, educational engagement, and ethical considerations in working with young people.
The videos offer compelling insights into the realities of young people’s lives and the role of educators in fostering meaningful and supportive learning environments.
This blog is part of a wider series which showcases these films, highlighting the diverse perspectives and critical reflections emerging from this work.
https://deakin.au.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=722d9251-67c8-4809-b1d4-b27f00bc9765
This case study attempts to delineate some of the ways that “enshittification” impacts, distorts, and shapes the formation of youth identity (Doctorow, 2024). Also known as Platform Decay, as we have outlined in earlier blogs, enshittification is a process by which corporations glean enormous profits by actively degrading the user-experience and functionality of their platforms. As Cory Doctorow writes, “the capitalism of today has produced a global, digital ghost mall, filled with botshit, crap gadgets from companies with consonant-heavy brand names and cryptocurrency scams” (2024). While much has been written about the relationship between youth and digital identity (Kelly, 2018; Kelly, Campbell, Harrison & Hickey 2018; Gardner & Davis, 2013; Stald, 2008; Besley, 2010; Darvin, 2022; Kelly & Kamp, 2013;), scant attention has been paid to the effect that decay of digital life has had on contemporary youth. Here, Doctorow’s “enshittification” dovetails with Yanis Varoufakis’ concept of “Technofeudalism” (2023), the disintegration of public life outlined by Byung-Chul Han (2017; 2015), and the “generalized violence of acceleration” critiqued by Paul Virilio (p. 72, 1998). Ultimately, the question that frames this study is: how are young people’s identities shaped, distorted, and impacted by a decaying, fragmented and increasingly monetised digital space?