4 ms·

If you insist: There's a difference between destitute and poor. Someone working as a janitor with a unimpressive but acceptable salary, who has to pinch pennies

If you insist: There's a difference between destitute and poor. Someone working as a janitor with a unimpressive but acceptable salary, who has to pinch pennies to make ends meet, can still be a good poster. (Anecdotally, a lot of good Twitter posters seem to have lots of problems with student debt and the like.) Obviously, it's not literally illegal. But it seems like you're not going to filter just for people who can afford to pay $1/month, but for people who are dumb enough to actually do it. Some rich people have interesting things to say; few (no?) rich people dumb enough to purchase money JPEG avatars do.

rootsudo 5y ago
But if you're selling stuff to rich dumb people, you will pay to play in the same space too. But then the community will leave and form a new island.
tenebrisalietum 5y ago
> Someone working as a janitor with a unimpressive but acceptable salary, who has to pinch pennies to make ends meet, can still be a good poster I might be able to be a good race car driver, but does that entitle me to a free race car? Am I being oppressed because the race track won't buy me a race car?
- openknot 5y ago
  It's not about being entitled to post. Rather, it's about creating a network with content created by people from a diverse set of backgrounds. Consider Hacker News, specifically this submission [0] on "My Story as a Homeless Developer." If HN had a paywall to post, the readers wouldn't be able to learn from the story. Even if the person paid to post, the comment section might also not have included as many offers to support the writer from formerly homeless developers, as these people may not have been on the platform due to a retained habit of frugality. The comparison to race car driving also isn't equivalent. It comparatively costs a near-negligible amount to allow one more user to create content on a platform, versus providing someone with a race car. Perhaps a comparison to a relatively low-cost sport (swimming, marathon running) would be more apt, though still flawed (for content creation isn't equivalent to a competitive sport). [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17936860 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17936860
  - tenebrisalietum 5y ago
    I really don't mean to sound cruel here, but humor me: If funds can help homeless software engineers, they can pay for their social media posts too. > content creation isn't equivalent to a competitive sport Why are scores (likes) kept and displayed then? Why do various platforms let vote count drive their algorithm?
    - openknot 5y ago
      >I really don't mean to sound cruel here, but humor me: If funds can help homeless software engineers, they can pay for their social media posts too. Most would rather have funding for essentials or educational opportunities. >Why are scores (likes) kept and displayed then? Why do various platforms let vote count drive their algorithm? There can be competitive elements, but that doesn't contradict the observation that social media posting isn't exactly like swimming or running.

rootsudo 5y ago

But if you're selling stuff to rich dumb people, you will pay to play in the same space too. But then the community will leave and form a new island.

tenebrisalietum 5y ago

> Someone working as a janitor with a unimpressive but acceptable salary, who has to pinch pennies to make ends meet, can still be a good poster I might be able to be a good race car driver, but does that entitle me to a free race car? Am I being oppressed because the race track won't buy me a race car?

openknot 5y ago
It's not about being entitled to post. Rather, it's about creating a network with content created by people from a diverse set of backgrounds. Consider Hacker News, specifically this submission [0] on "My Story as a Homeless Developer." If HN had a paywall to post, the readers wouldn't be able to learn from the story. Even if the person paid to post, the comment section might also not have included as many offers to support the writer from formerly homeless developers, as these people may not have been on the platform due to a retained habit of frugality. The comparison to race car driving also isn't equivalent. It comparatively costs a near-negligible amount to allow one more user to create content on a platform, versus providing someone with a race car. Perhaps a comparison to a relatively low-cost sport (swimming, marathon running) would be more apt, though still flawed (for content creation isn't equivalent to a competitive sport). [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17936860 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17936860
- tenebrisalietum 5y ago
  I really don't mean to sound cruel here, but humor me: If funds can help homeless software engineers, they can pay for their social media posts too. > content creation isn't equivalent to a competitive sport Why are scores (likes) kept and displayed then? Why do various platforms let vote count drive their algorithm?
  - openknot 5y ago
    >I really don't mean to sound cruel here, but humor me: If funds can help homeless software engineers, they can pay for their social media posts too. Most would rather have funding for essentials or educational opportunities. >Why are scores (likes) kept and displayed then? Why do various platforms let vote count drive their algorithm? There can be competitive elements, but that doesn't contradict the observation that social media posting isn't exactly like swimming or running.