It's hard to convince the big names to embrace the #fediverse because the rise of media decentralization threatens their unearned power. The ask isn't that they exchange one platform for another, but that they reject the whole idea of being able to buy attention. What rich person, or well-funded media organization, wants to do that? They are scared of a truly empowered network of regular people, and they should be.
@wjmaggos Thus, the fediverse fails to fill an economic need, the ability to trade money for visibility? But nothing about federated models precludes the ability to offer advertising space. It's practically inevitable that it will happen. Markets adapt to new circumstances.
I don't see that as a need and I think the structure will always make it too easy to avoid ads. advertising and the general ability to impose on other's attention is a social blight imo. collectively, it impedes our ability to improve our understanding and advance culture cause it's anti merit. good ideas naturally flow. we think stuff through and tell each other. that money gives people the ability to jump in line or repeated exposure kind of weakens our critical thinking sucks.
@wjmaggos Reputations don't spontaneously build themselves, however much we'd like them to. If advertising were suddenly abolished, the companies with the biggest market share would be in a much more comfortable position, with high visibility because of inertia, while upstarts would find it impossible to get noticed.
but the big names still advertise, maybe more than anybody else. you'll see a blast for a startup like on the SuperBowl, but that's it. the internet has fundamentally shifted the ability for quality products to take off. I get your point but I think the lack of paid paths to our attention would be a huge boost to competition, and less of a limit for newbies who have little money to spend on it anyway. I could see us all thinking and posting about what products/services we use instead.
But there isn't a lack of a paid path to our attention here.
Anyone is free to pay to post to Fediverse, and without an algorithm to counter content that we're not interested in, the content will pop up on our instances.
It's more that our attention isn't worth the hassle, so far.
This platform is simply too insignificant to be worth it, for better or worse.
@volkris @gmcgath
I don't understand.
I can unfollow anybody here if I suspect they are being paid to post. if an instance you're using inserts ads, you can pretty easily move.
in other places, you are forced to see whatever the owner decides to put in your feed.