I guess I would also answer that with controversial opinion.

They don’t want a better platform. Reddit does exactly what they want it to do. To generate tons of discussions about the same things, over and over again. To generate loads of different feelings and situations. To create a very diverse pool of data.

They might have started out with a good ideology, but then success came.

I like to compare it with Quora. It could have been the best site of its kind. But it served its purpose, being a feed-bucket for an AI, and now it’s not even moderated anymore. And they did pay their users and mods, but it didn’t work out, too many tiny transactions, only like a handful of people got anything, and those abused it like crazy.

Just my take on it. Such payment models won’t work. A few giants will earn the majority, and they will cheat and fight for it, the rest will still get nothing. They could have taken three thirds of that CEO money to create a few resident jobs. But why bother, Reddit is exactly how they want it to be. Most users just don’t realize the pseudo-scam, believing it’s their favorite discussion platform that they can influence, while the creators have a content-generator with free labor in mind.

So what, give the CEO half and pay the rest to the mods? Like 1300 bucks per year without tax and fees. What would be left? 50 bucks per month? Reddit has like 75000 moderators. Some for huge Subreddits, some for small ones. Equal pay? Or what?

Someone has to organize all that paying, many are in different countries, different tax laws. In the end, there would be like 20 bucks per month for each. You then would also require extra heavy checks for moderation quality to ensure they are worth their pay. You’d need systems to prevent abuse. If there’s money involved, people become extra greedy. Just pay some of them? Only the ones working a few hours per day? Pay per moderating action? What?

Or you just do double pay for the CEO. Seems like a no-brainer.

4WD gets you through

In the end, how is that different from not praising all the library coders and open source parts?

Praise goes to the marketing guys. And rightly so. Without them, nobody of consequence would buy or use the code. ;)

You do get searchable auto-transcripts of videos now, so that’s a good thing. Some people work better with videos and find them more accessible. Best of both worlds. As long as they are not auto-playing and pre-caching, I’m fine with them existing.

I have never heard of alt+left, and I’ve been using the Internet since Mosaic was all the rage. Shame on me, it seems to be implemented in all browsers. How could I have missed it?

People using an alternative to YouTube are already a very specific minority, and the percentage of those using a plugin on a specific client is even rarer. I wouldn’t go so far to call it a ballpark. Or even a rational source.

I would agree with you that the data would be highly suspect. It wouldn’t reflect reality at all and should really not be considered.

On the other hand, YouTube likes and dislikes have been a tool for ages, and they were manipulated. It was never more than a silly toy. It was never accurate data to begin with.

Because sponsoring doesn’t infringe on privacy, is usually controlled by the channel, and is often relevant.

I sometimes feel like I am the only one with that file. Yes sir, I sometimes feel sad when a good piece of software doesn’t have a donation button or license to buy. Even if it does nothing.

Ditched Windows long ago though.

Or even worse:

Thanks. Send a complete log of every software on your system, two videos of the bugs in action, and a detailed analysis of what you’ve had for breakfast.

Hehe, sometimes I wish that I could be snarky like that. ;) Good for you.

I have been told by numerous people these days that there are no free things in life. I write and contribute to FOSS software, and had that exact discussion.

Apparently, I do it to feel good, and for the prestige, a reward in itself. Also, I probably want to make up for something.

“Doing something for free is no excuse to do it badly.”

Some others don’t even know what “free” means." And some don’t believe it at all, that someone is paying me. Probably thinking about influencers or something. Perhaps they saw an ad somewhere and believed I’d see any of that revenue. ;)

I just went with posting the wiki entry about FOSS, and my ko-fi page, and thanked them for their interest. The first two, because they genuinely didn’t know any better, and the third because, well, at least that one is clear. Every user is a tester. Testing is good.