“Enshittification squeezes down, ensloppification pushes up” is the cleanest description I have seen of why everything starts to feel like the same ghostwriter with the same six templates. AI is not the root cause. It just removed the last remaining constraint: effort. Spot on.
One important nuance though: ensloppification by itself is not automatically bad. It is a forcing function.
When artifacts get cheap and plausible, production stops being the hard part. The hard part becomes discernment: knowing what to trust, what to keep, what to ship, and who will own the consequences.
The part that is bad is the legibility collapse that follows when incentives reward artifact volume over owned judgment. Provenance disappears. Intent disappears. The internet gets louder while getting less accountable.
What decides which path we get is incentives and interface. Slop can push people toward sharper standards, or toward resignation. The failure mode is newstainment: tired people stop checking, vibes get treated as truth, and the epistemic floor drops.
My countermeasure is boring and unfashionable: standards. Not purity tests. Standards that force traceable thought.
No scope, no claim. State premises. Show method. Provide evidence. Name tradeoffs. Include a disproof check.
If slop is the flood, discernment has to become the boat.
"Artifacts are cheap. Judgment is scarce." That's the whole thing in six words.
The countermeasure you're describing (standards that force traceable thought) is the only thing that scales. Everything else is just yelling at the flood.
This is exactly what’s happening in Hollywood too…endless remakes instead of original films. Same underlying issue: when systems (algorithms or studios) optimize for ‘safe bets,’ you only get predictable and dull results.
Amen. Honestly though, if someone wanted to make money they need to churn the slop because it does sell.
Your article is genuine but ironically it draws on emotions the same way the slop does. Emotional engagement sells in every form of the arts whether it be theater, film, novel or substack.
I think ensloppification works when the platform it is being produced on rewards it. Medium for example, where I came from rewards and pays for views/reads. So the more outlandish your story, the more click baity it is the more you get paid. And what's worse they promote this with their boost program. I run a pub there and the only stories that get boosted now are the most outlandish ones. The weirdest takes on things.
Here is where I think we fight ensloppification. When the platform it is written on doesn't reward it. Right now you can try and put the same slop i see on Medium onto Substack, but you won't make money with it. On substack you have to build trust with the reader and they need to trust you enough to pay you for a subscription. It's not perfect. The slop still comes here. Some of the posts might still go viral, but they won't build a following. They won't actually make money. And because of that they will leave.
So how do you fight ensloppification? You build platforms that don't reward it.
You're right about Substack's structure has been making it harder for slop to win.
But you're also right that it won't last.
The Notes algorithm already rewards the usual suspects. Pattern recognition. Engagement bait. The stuff that gets shares, not the stuff that gets remembered. And ads? Rumor has it they're just around the corner. (Enjoy the window while it's open.)
Every platform follows the same arc. Medium started as "quality writing, supported by readers." Now it's a clickbait factory where the boost program rewards the weirdest takes. Facebook started as "connect with friends." Now it's an algorithmic nightmare wrapped in ads.
Substack isn't special. It's just earlier in the cycle.
Growth pressure always wins. Monetize or die. And when that pressure hits (1 year? five?), the incentives shift. The thing that made it special becomes the thing that gets optimized away.
So here's the only defense that survives platform decay: build something so divergent, so distinctively yours, that slop can only compete on volume.
And volume doesn't matter when people are looking for you specifically.
Craft beats slop. Not because platforms reward it. But because readers remember it.
I agree that substack is just early in the cycle. One day I we will also leave here like I left twitter, Instagram, and facebook. I am halfway out the door on Medium.
Love this post, thank you! Ensloppification has been on my mind a lot lately. Not just in content, but in software too. Really great to see posts like yours pushing in the same direction. In 2026, I’m planning to dedicate a significant part of my work to pushing back against it, through projects like Build With Attitude.
Content slop and software slop are the same disease. AI makes "done" easy. "Good" still takes intention. Sounds like Build With Attitude is pointed at the right problem.
Without my voice being considered, I might have sloppified my comment to Nick with:
“I would like to take a moment to express that this post was extraordinarily insightful and remarkably well-aligned with the topic at hand. The author articulated the core ideas with a level of clarity and relevance that is both timely and impactful. As such, the piece stands out as a thoughtful and well-considered contribution, and the author should be genuinely commended for their perspective and execution.”
Such a great piece! Every little “optimization” dilutes the quirks that make our content unique and interesting. Many creators are just responding to the platforms' incentives, which reward slop with visibility. AI didn't cause the problem, but it did make making slop easier.
“Enshittification squeezes down, ensloppification pushes up” is the cleanest description I have seen of why everything starts to feel like the same ghostwriter with the same six templates. AI is not the root cause. It just removed the last remaining constraint: effort. Spot on.
One important nuance though: ensloppification by itself is not automatically bad. It is a forcing function.
When artifacts get cheap and plausible, production stops being the hard part. The hard part becomes discernment: knowing what to trust, what to keep, what to ship, and who will own the consequences.
The part that is bad is the legibility collapse that follows when incentives reward artifact volume over owned judgment. Provenance disappears. Intent disappears. The internet gets louder while getting less accountable.
What decides which path we get is incentives and interface. Slop can push people toward sharper standards, or toward resignation. The failure mode is newstainment: tired people stop checking, vibes get treated as truth, and the epistemic floor drops.
My countermeasure is boring and unfashionable: standards. Not purity tests. Standards that force traceable thought.
No scope, no claim. State premises. Show method. Provide evidence. Name tradeoffs. Include a disproof check.
If slop is the flood, discernment has to become the boat.
Artifacts are cheap. Judgment is scarce.
"Artifacts are cheap. Judgment is scarce." That's the whole thing in six words.
The countermeasure you're describing (standards that force traceable thought) is the only thing that scales. Everything else is just yelling at the flood.
Thank you for this! I’ve had this creepy feeling for the past 5 years about all things online and finally I can call it what it is: ensloppification
This is exactly what’s happening in Hollywood too…endless remakes instead of original films. Same underlying issue: when systems (algorithms or studios) optimize for ‘safe bets,’ you only get predictable and dull results.
Hollywood is ensloppification with a $200 million budget. Same disease, fancier symptoms.
That creepy feeling was accurate. The word just took a while to show up.
Amen. Honestly though, if someone wanted to make money they need to churn the slop because it does sell.
Your article is genuine but ironically it draws on emotions the same way the slop does. Emotional engagement sells in every form of the arts whether it be theater, film, novel or substack.
It is and ever shall be, Amen.
I appreciate the "Amen" but if emotional engagement pays, I must be doing it wrong.
Packet ramen and plain rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Nearly a year now. My slop game is clearly not to to snuff her.
Maybe I should try the other type of slop. Seems more profitable. 🤣🤑
I may try stupid pet tricks soon 🤓
I'll watch that
I think ensloppification works when the platform it is being produced on rewards it. Medium for example, where I came from rewards and pays for views/reads. So the more outlandish your story, the more click baity it is the more you get paid. And what's worse they promote this with their boost program. I run a pub there and the only stories that get boosted now are the most outlandish ones. The weirdest takes on things.
Here is where I think we fight ensloppification. When the platform it is written on doesn't reward it. Right now you can try and put the same slop i see on Medium onto Substack, but you won't make money with it. On substack you have to build trust with the reader and they need to trust you enough to pay you for a subscription. It's not perfect. The slop still comes here. Some of the posts might still go viral, but they won't build a following. They won't actually make money. And because of that they will leave.
So how do you fight ensloppification? You build platforms that don't reward it.
You're right about Substack's structure has been making it harder for slop to win.
But you're also right that it won't last.
The Notes algorithm already rewards the usual suspects. Pattern recognition. Engagement bait. The stuff that gets shares, not the stuff that gets remembered. And ads? Rumor has it they're just around the corner. (Enjoy the window while it's open.)
Every platform follows the same arc. Medium started as "quality writing, supported by readers." Now it's a clickbait factory where the boost program rewards the weirdest takes. Facebook started as "connect with friends." Now it's an algorithmic nightmare wrapped in ads.
Substack isn't special. It's just earlier in the cycle.
Growth pressure always wins. Monetize or die. And when that pressure hits (1 year? five?), the incentives shift. The thing that made it special becomes the thing that gets optimized away.
So here's the only defense that survives platform decay: build something so divergent, so distinctively yours, that slop can only compete on volume.
And volume doesn't matter when people are looking for you specifically.
Craft beats slop. Not because platforms reward it. But because readers remember it.
That's the only moat that lasts.
I agree that substack is just early in the cycle. One day I we will also leave here like I left twitter, Instagram, and facebook. I am halfway out the door on Medium.
I agree Craft beats slop every time.
Love this post, thank you! Ensloppification has been on my mind a lot lately. Not just in content, but in software too. Really great to see posts like yours pushing in the same direction. In 2026, I’m planning to dedicate a significant part of my work to pushing back against it, through projects like Build With Attitude.
Content slop and software slop are the same disease. AI makes "done" easy. "Good" still takes intention. Sounds like Build With Attitude is pointed at the right problem.
Love it. Sturgeon's Law should be up there with the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
Sturgeon was quite the optimist. At least he thought 10% would survive 😜
Without my voice being considered, I might have sloppified my comment to Nick with:
“I would like to take a moment to express that this post was extraordinarily insightful and remarkably well-aligned with the topic at hand. The author articulated the core ideas with a level of clarity and relevance that is both timely and impactful. As such, the piece stands out as a thoughtful and well-considered contribution, and the author should be genuinely commended for their perspective and execution.”
Didn’t want to do that, so:
"This post nails it. Credit where it’s due."
😉
"Sloppified" is now in my vocabulary.
Also, that first version physically hurt to read... which means you nailed it!
Such a great piece! Every little “optimization” dilutes the quirks that make our content unique and interesting. Many creators are just responding to the platforms' incentives, which reward slop with visibility. AI didn't cause the problem, but it did make making slop easier.
Right! AI is the accelerant, not the arsonist. The fire was already burning. We lit it ourselves, one "best practice" at a time.
The slop either stops or starts with you, the individual human.
Being unique in an generic space.
The slop has no author. That's what makes it slop.
If your fingerprints aren't on it, why publish it?
Individual humans all the way down. The slop doesn't make itself. (Well, now it kind of does. But we're still the ones hitting publish.)