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I want myself and others to contribute because of the desire to contribute. I don't want to bring affiliates into the equation lest it brings the wrong incentiv

I want myself and others to contribute because of the desire to contribute. I don't want to bring affiliates into the equation lest it brings the wrong incentives (however glimmering it may be). There are other ways to make money.

sanderjd 8y ago
I'm honestly curious how you envision that affiliate links might create the wrong incentives. There are other ways to make money, but the ones I can think of seem much worse. Advertising sucks and clearly has more wrong incentive problems. Donations are less predictable and disconnected from the usefulness of the site. It seems to me that getting a small cut of "hey this book does look useful, I think I'll buy it!" is as well-aligned as it gets. But I'm interested in your thoughts on this!
- gits1225 8y ago
  Ads don't suck. Bad ads suck. I love good ads. I used to wait for ads to appear on my Garena client back in the days when I played DOTA because they were so cool (and useful). If I know my audience, I don't have to compromise privacy to show useful ads clean and neat either (watertight curation is applied here as well). Good ads are relevant. On amazon affiliates: The iron rule of nature is: You get what you reward for. If you want ants to come, you put sugar on the floor — Charlie Munger I don't want to reward the wrong type of behavior.
  - sanderjd 8y ago
    I don't get your point about affiliate links at all. What better ad is there than a link to a recommended book itself? I'd much rather see you get a small portion of the purchase price of a book you recommended to me than look at your ads, curated or not. But it's your site! I hope you do find success with the ad strategy, your site seems useful, and I hope it remains worth your time.
    - gits1225 8y ago
      This comment puts it well: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17789161 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17789161.
      - sanderjd 8y ago
        You have the same incentive to prioritize ads over recommendations. If I trust you to keep ads clearly separated, I also trust you to keep recommendations undiluted.
        gits1225 8y ago
        > You have the same incentive to prioritize ads over recommendations. No. > If I trust you to keep ads clearly separated, I also trust you to keep recommendations undiluted. True. I am the one curator at the moment. I'll open this so that others can curate / recommend. I require that dilution of intention doesn't happen then. DNA is important.
        deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]

sanderjd 8y ago

I'm honestly curious how you envision that affiliate links might create the wrong incentives. There are other ways to make money, but the ones I can think of seem much worse. Advertising sucks and clearly has more wrong incentive problems. Donations are less predictable and disconnected from the usefulness of the site. It seems to me that getting a small cut of "hey this book does look useful, I think I'll buy it!" is as well-aligned as it gets. But I'm interested in your thoughts on this!

gits1225 8y ago
Ads don't suck. Bad ads suck. I love good ads. I used to wait for ads to appear on my Garena client back in the days when I played DOTA because they were so cool (and useful). If I know my audience, I don't have to compromise privacy to show useful ads clean and neat either (watertight curation is applied here as well). Good ads are relevant. On amazon affiliates: The iron rule of nature is: You get what you reward for. If you want ants to come, you put sugar on the floor — Charlie Munger I don't want to reward the wrong type of behavior.
- sanderjd 8y ago
  I don't get your point about affiliate links at all. What better ad is there than a link to a recommended book itself? I'd much rather see you get a small portion of the purchase price of a book you recommended to me than look at your ads, curated or not. But it's your site! I hope you do find success with the ad strategy, your site seems useful, and I hope it remains worth your time.
  - gits1225 8y ago
    This comment puts it well: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17789161 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17789161.
    - sanderjd 8y ago
      You have the same incentive to prioritize ads over recommendations. If I trust you to keep ads clearly separated, I also trust you to keep recommendations undiluted.
      - gits1225 8y ago
        > You have the same incentive to prioritize ads over recommendations. No. > If I trust you to keep ads clearly separated, I also trust you to keep recommendations undiluted. True. I am the one curator at the moment. I'll open this so that others can curate / recommend. I require that dilution of intention doesn't happen then. DNA is important.
        deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]