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To put it bluntly, online content creation is not a feasible income source. As you've discovered, ad-free content is almost impossible to sell. Ad-based conten

by blub 9y ago

To put it bluntly, online content creation is not a feasible income source. As you've discovered, ad-free content is almost impossible to sell. Ad-based content has a too big social cost, which we're only now starting to talk about. Society should support everyone to live a dignified life, and have a decent income. It shouldn't leave them to fight for an income and make deals with the devil to get it.

DoreenMichele 9y ago
I don't think UBI makes sense. I also think positing that as the answer is essentially another dodge because it is some hand wavy imagined future, not something we can really act on in the here and now. Ads are paying the bills now. We don't like where that has taken us. But most people don't want to address the issue in the here and now of how else to cover the bills if not via ads. Every single discussion I have seen of this issue boils down to: 1. People want ads to go away. 2. They still want content to be free. 3. Content producers need to eat? Oh, well, not my problem. Sucks to be you.
- blub 9y ago
  1. Yes, ads need to go. 2. It doesn't matter much what people want, but what the new reality absent ads will be: there will be enough free content done by people who do it for the fun of it, as is the case now. Highest quality stuff will be available for pay, with some exceptions. Any other content will either disappear or be made free - the potential customers have decided it's not worthwhile enough to pay for it. I do not see any problem with the above, the human race doesn't suffer from a lack of digital content. It's a minor issue, that's on reason why people don't pay for it. 3. No one should have their living depend on creating stuff online, this is a major social failure. We, individual members of society pay our taxes so that everyone has some degree of social support; some of those taxes will be used to help out people in need until they get back on their feet and get a job. Ad-supported content creator is not a job, it is an accidental revenue stream that will likely disappear. UBI could be a solution, but that's not what I had in mind: affordable state-supported medical care, financial support for the unemployed, retraining and trainings paid by the unemployment office. This is reality right now in some European countries and it could be possible in the US.
  - DoreenMichele 9y ago
    The internet exists. It takes work to keep it going. To some extent, even developer salaries are paid for by ad money. Google employs a lot of developers. Google makes most of its money via ads. Those developers are being paid via ad revenue. This is not just small mom and pop shops and it is not just content creators. Acting like content creators need to get a real job completely overlooks how big the internet is, how many real jobs are involved in its ongoing existence and that a large portion of that is supported via ad revenue. Facebook is supported with ad revenue. It's a large company. You may think it sucks, but it employs many coders, it isn't likely to go anywhere any time soon and it is ad supported.
    - blub 9y ago
      The internet existed before ads and will continue to exist after they gone, likely in a nicer form. If the googles, facebooks and other ad companies would disappear over night, the world will be fine. Humanity is not obliged to support any particular company or business model. Those google and fb employees will likewise be fine, I hear there's always complaints in the US about a lack of qualified engineers...

by blub 9y ago

DoreenMichele 9y ago

I don't think UBI makes sense. I also think positing that as the answer is essentially another dodge because it is some hand wavy imagined future, not something we can really act on in the here and now. Ads are paying the bills now. We don't like where that has taken us. But most people don't want to address the issue in the here and now of how else to cover the bills if not via ads. Every single discussion I have seen of this issue boils down to: 1. People want ads to go away. 2. They still want content to be free. 3. Content producers need to eat? Oh, well, not my problem. Sucks to be you.

blub 9y ago
1. Yes, ads need to go. 2. It doesn't matter much what people want, but what the new reality absent ads will be: there will be enough free content done by people who do it for the fun of it, as is the case now. Highest quality stuff will be available for pay, with some exceptions. Any other content will either disappear or be made free - the potential customers have decided it's not worthwhile enough to pay for it. I do not see any problem with the above, the human race doesn't suffer from a lack of digital content. It's a minor issue, that's on reason why people don't pay for it. 3. No one should have their living depend on creating stuff online, this is a major social failure. We, individual members of society pay our taxes so that everyone has some degree of social support; some of those taxes will be used to help out people in need until they get back on their feet and get a job. Ad-supported content creator is not a job, it is an accidental revenue stream that will likely disappear. UBI could be a solution, but that's not what I had in mind: affordable state-supported medical care, financial support for the unemployed, retraining and trainings paid by the unemployment office. This is reality right now in some European countries and it could be possible in the US.
- DoreenMichele 9y ago
  The internet exists. It takes work to keep it going. To some extent, even developer salaries are paid for by ad money. Google employs a lot of developers. Google makes most of its money via ads. Those developers are being paid via ad revenue. This is not just small mom and pop shops and it is not just content creators. Acting like content creators need to get a real job completely overlooks how big the internet is, how many real jobs are involved in its ongoing existence and that a large portion of that is supported via ad revenue. Facebook is supported with ad revenue. It's a large company. You may think it sucks, but it employs many coders, it isn't likely to go anywhere any time soon and it is ad supported.
  - blub 9y ago
    The internet existed before ads and will continue to exist after they gone, likely in a nicer form. If the googles, facebooks and other ad companies would disappear over night, the world will be fine. Humanity is not obliged to support any particular company or business model. Those google and fb employees will likewise be fine, I hear there's always complaints in the US about a lack of qualified engineers...